The Third Time Isn't Always the Charm
by neradia3
Summary: Beca Mitchell decided to attend Barden for a reason. Her dad didn't force her to go because he knew it would be free due to his position as a professor at the school. No, she had to meet a certain redhead that she was destined to protect. She didn't think she would fall in love with her at the same time.
1. This Will Be the Day

"Chloe!" Beca yelped as she got out of the taxi and ran to the right side of the road where the taxi that Chloe was in lay upside down. She knelt down where the back seat left door was and punched her fist at the glass, shattering it into pieces.

As she put her arm through the window to unlock the door, her breathing became heavier, her view of the unconscious redhead becoming more clear. She pulled open the door and reached into the taxi, grabbing ahold of Chloe and carefully pulling her out, setting her on her lap. Just looking at the damaged redhead brought tears to her eyes.

Tucking a stray curl behind Chloe's ear, she quickly glanced up at the night sky, admiring the many stars above them. She allowed her mind to shy away from the fear of Chloe dying...

again.

She knew she had to be serious with this. This was no longer a joke anymore, it never was. It happened over and over again too many times. So many times that she became used to seeing Chloe in this state, in this hurt and shattered state.

Beca glanced back down at Chloe, specifically the jewel that hung around her neck. Her eyes wandered from her chest to her cut-up face. The many cuts on her face must have been from the glass that broke at the back of the taxi. The large gash that went from the right side of her forehead to the tip of the outside of her eye resulted from the hit to her head when the taxi tumbled over.

As people gathered around as well as police, it became harder to contain the tears in her eyes. She never had really cried in front of people, especially a crowd this big. She swore that the people in the crowd could make up most of the student population of Barden. No doubt.

The police started questioning people about what happened and if they saw anything suspicious happen before the crash. Hearing the mutters of many people around her, Beca pealed her eyes away from Chloe, watching an ambulance pull over to the side of the road. Paramedics hopped out of the vehicle and approached the taxi, seeing if anyone was still inside it. They bashed the taxi driver side window and opened the door, carefully pulling the driver out of the taxi and placing him on to a gurney.

Beca shook her head and focused back on Chloe. She gripped tightly at the jewel around the her neck and frowned. "I'm sorry, Chloe, but I need to take this back in order for this to work." She pulled the chain right off her neck, holding it close to her chest. She unclipped her own necklace and connected the two jewels together. "Goodbye Chloe," Beca whispered, allowing one tear to roll down her cheek. "I'll see you at the activities fair... again."

The brunette fully connected the two jewels, a glow of light suddenly came from them, forcing Beca to close her eyes, the view of Chloe vanishing before her.

* * *

Beca gazed out the window of the taxi, the site of Barden's campus standing right before her eyes. The music playing loudly through her headphones kept her mind off her nervous state. She only admired Barden, thinking of nothing more, besides... well... Barden. She had to keep her mind on the now. Just by looking at the students exiting their parents' car or the staff directing the students to their dorm room left her mind completely blank of thoughts.

As the taxi came to a slow stop, Beca pulled her headphones off her head and allowed them to hang around her neck, the music still playing at an average volume. She opened the door and immediately went to the trunk to pick up her black Mac Book bag that held her Mac Book as well as some other things that she needed to make her mixes. A staff member also headed to the trunk to grab Beca's belongings for her, first reaching towards her lap top bag. Before he could grab ahold of it, Beca muttered a quick "I got it" and grabbed the bag's handle. Beca quickly stepped aside, allowing the staff member to gather her other bags.

Before she could take another step, a very chipper and quirky blonde appeared out of nowhere in front of her. Even now, she still doesn't know where that girl keeps coming from. "Hi, welcome to Barden University," she started, wanting to make Beca feel as comfortable as possible desite that she has already been greeted by this lady several times. Sadly, she didn't know that Beca had to go through the same thing just to save a certain bubbly redhead. "What dorm?"

"Baker Hall," Beca answered with a sigh. She had to hear her talk through the directions again, but honestly, she thought that the blonde's voice sounded annoying. Instead, the brunette cut her short of her explanation of directions. "Look, I know where my dorm is. Can I have the whistle and move on? I don't really give a shit about the directions I already know."

The blonde rose her eye brows. "The rape whistle? How did you know I was going to-"

Beca cut her off again. "Just give me the whistle so I can get to my dorm much faster and ignore the freshman whose parents' car is about to stop right beside us. I want to avoid him as much as possible. He is seriously annoying and hearing him sing _Carry On My Wayward Son_ again is going to make my head explode."

She gave the brunette a weird look and handed her the "Official BU Rape Whistle". "Don't blow it unless it's actually happening," the blonde warned.

The DJ rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know," she muttered, putting the whistle between her teeth and walking past the woman, and headed to her dorm. She walked through the gates that led her on to campus, many of the same freshman she's seen those other times go by with a BU staff member holding their belongings.

Beca approached an area that was all dirt, no grass. There were a couple trees too. She knew right then that she would see the four guys all sitting in chairs, rating each girl that walked by, especially freshman. Beca thought that it was immature and stupid.

Getting on to a sidewalk, she watched as the freshman with a load ton of stuffed animals walk by, the boxes and bags of animals falling over. Each time, it annoyed Beca to a point where she almost wished she went a different way to her dorm.

She finally approached an entrance to the building, the hall that her dorm was in, and walked inside. Everything that she remembered before the accident was still there. The various club posters hanging on bulletin boards, up coming events, and other things that even Barden would consider good enough to pin.

Beca went down one last hallway before arriving at her dorm room. She took out her key and opened the door, then walking in and setting down her bag and headphones. She turned to see Kimmy Jin, her roommate, who was still getting herself organized. Although by finals she would suddenly get soft, Beca still had hated her after each time she had to run off to the activities fair with her just to avoid her dad.

"Hi, I'm Beca," Beca stated, only getting an annoyed look from Kimmy Jin. Being left in silence, she rolled her eyes and turned back around to set up her turntable, keyboard, and other things she needed to make her mixes at the desk across from Kimmy Jin's.

By the time she was close to finishing, BU staff came in to drop off her other bags and boxes. She simply told them to just set them on her bed and they did so, then leaving the room. Putting one last thing together which involved her very complicated turntable, she again turned towards Kimmy Jin who was now sitting at her desk. Beca gestured towards the many devices that stood on her desk. She had told Kimmy Jin this time and all the other times that the DJ stuff on her desk was important to her and that she couldn't touch it or move it while she wasn't in the dorm. Only receiving a glare, Beca rolled her eyes and turned herself back around, glancing down at her keyboard beside her desk.

Beca sighed and unclipped the necklace that hung around her neck and gazed at her half of the jewel, Chloe's half being in a hidden pocket in her lap top bag. She set the necklace down on her desk by her Mac Book and pulled her Mac Book out of sleep mode. Beca logged into her lap top and opened her "DeeJay" program. She quickly tested her keyboard and turntable to see if they worked properly just after being connected to her lap top not long ago.

After testing it, she opened a file that she has been working on (which she never really had a chance to finish) and played through what she had done of it. Although, she decided not to plug in her headphones at the last minute, wanting to annoy the hell out of Kimmy Jin. She added a couple of base beats to the mix, finishing off the final product of the mix she'd been working on for the longest time. Before she could save what she had changed, a knock came upon her door. Beca sighed, hearing her dad's voice behind the door. Something like, "Campus police! Hide your wine coolers!"? _Wine coolers? What the hell are wine coolers?_ she asked herself.

Not hearing a response, Beca's dad opened the door. She took a quick glance at her dad before finally saving the finished mix. "I'm just kidding," he continued, "it's just your ol' man trying to make a funny."

"Chris Rock, everybody," Beca replies sarcastically, her eyes still focused on her lap top screen. While her dad awkwardly introduced himself to Kimmy Jin, Beca opened up a blank file, wanting to start a new mix to show her dad that she was obviously busy with something so he would leave.

He didn't hear a reply from Kimmy Jin so he turned back to Beca, who still wasn't paying attention to him. "So," he started, "when did you get here? _How_ did you get here?"

"Took a cab. I didn't want to inconvenience you and Sheila." Beca started searching for songs to use in the mix she pulled up on the program. She had a whole list of songs she hadn't used yet. "How is the stepmonster?"

"She's great." After that, the rest of what Dr. Mitchell said was drained out by Beca, completely ignoring her father. "...Gave her my lucky-"

Beca sighed and finally turned to face her dad. "Dad, I don't really care. I just wanted to say 'stepmonster'."

Dr. Mitchell shook his head. "Fair enough." He looked out the window in Beca's dorm room. "In the spring time, students study on the grass."

"I don't want to study on the grass," Beca retorted, getting a little frustrated. "I don't need college. What I need is to live in LA, work at a music label, start paying my dues-"

"DJ'ing is not a profession. It's a hobby. Unless you're Rick Dees or someone awesome," her dad said, interrupting her, not wanting to hear anymore about the whole "moving to LA" thing.

She shook her head. "I honestly don't want to continue this pointless conversation. It's stupid. I don't want to get more pissed off than I already am."

There was a sudden awkward silence between the two. All Beca could think about was meeting Chloe again at the activities fair. She didn't care about the current situation. She just wanted her dad to leave so she could go to the activities fair and get this over with.

In the midst of the awkward silence, Kimmy Jin stood up and announced that she was going to the activities fair. Beca let out a sigh of relief, her frustration had about to get the best of her. "You know what? I think I'm going to go to the activities fair with my super-good friend, Kimmy Jin." And with that, Beca walked passed her dad and left her dorm room along with Kimmy Jin.

* * *

Chloe Beale stood next to her best friend, Aubrey Posen, at the Barden Bellas' booth at the activities fair. She had fliers in her arms that had pictures and rehearsal days pasted on it. Aubrey had the clipboard that held the sign-up sheet, which to their disappointment was blank. No one really wanted to join the Bellas after what happened last year at Lincoln Center in New York.

The two tried to get Baloney Barb to sign-up, despite her baloney looking boobs. Barb just laughed at the question and insulted them harshly, causing Aubrey to lose all hope of getting new members. After failing to get Baloney Barb, Chloe suggested to Aubrey that they should just be looking for good singers, not girls with just good looks. Although good looks as well as a good voice would be even better, according to Aubrey.

Overhearing Chloe's suggestion, Fat Amy walked over to the booth, becoming interested after hearing "good singers" since she considered herself as one. To test her, Chloe asked her to match pitch. At first, she matched Chloe's pitch perfectly. Then at the last note, she went a little bit overboard, holding out the note longer than Chloe and Aubrey thought she would. It was very unexpected yet impressive. After a couple more seconds, the two became annoyed and impatient of her. Aubrey gestured for her to stop.

Fat Amy stopped, then saying something about dancing, which left Chloe's mind immediately as if she wasn't really interested and she wasn't. After showing them her mermaid dancing, Aubrey gave her a flier, telling her that she'll see her at auditions. Fat Amy finally left Aubrey and Chloe's view.

Since then, no one else stopped at their booth. The vomit incident that happened last year must have made people uninterested in joining. Either that or everyone at Barden, that aren't already in an a capella group, just cant sing or despise a capella.

Chloe watched as people walked passed their booth, obviously not showing any interest in joining as Aubrey shoved fliers in their faces. Her eyes wandered away from the people that had passed their booth to a short brunette coming close to the booth. A smile spread across her face. Chloe quickly got her best friend's attention and pointed to the brunette.

"What about her?" Chloe asked.

Aubrey cringed at the brunette's appearance. "She seems a bit too alternative for us."

Chloe completely ignored her and handed the brunette a flier once she approached the booth. "Hi," she greeted, "any interest in auditioning for our a capella group?"

The brunette glanced down quickly, examining it. The pictures, rehearsal times, description at the bottom. They could use a real flier up-grade was all that came through her head. Not hearing a reply, Chloe sighed, feeling as though the girl was only thinking about how bad the flier looked and she wasn't wrong.

"What's your name?" Chloe asked suddenly, wanting to get the brunette's attention away from the flier.

She glanced up at Chloe, not leaving her gaze. She couldn't. Her eyes were too beautiful for her to ignore. "I'm Beca." Chloe smiled.

"Hi, Beca. I'm Chloe."


	2. It was Lame at First

_It was after the semi-final performance. Beca had messed up big time. Adding Bulletproof to the set without Aubrey or the other Bellas knowing was definitely going to get her kicked out of the group, but she obviously didn't care. The audience was practically falling asleep. She thought that adding "Bulletproof" to the set would make everything more up-beat and she wasn't wrong._

 _Exiting off the stage and heading back stage, Beca separated from the rest of the Bellas, knowing that they were all going to turn on her, especially Aubrey. Aubrey wanted this performance to be perfect. Almost too perfect. It had to be perfect. No mess-ups, no mistakes, no improv. Nothing along those lines. Despite what Aubrey said before they went on stage, "if we do it exactly as we rehearsed, we'll get there", Beca screwed up anyways, but purposely to get their score up passed the Footnotes' score. Apparently, it didn't end that way._

 _Aubrey moved herself towards the front of the rest of the Bellas, getting herself ready to yell at Beca for what she did during the performance and how risky it was. And how that could have gotten them out of the competition. "What the hell, Beca?" The blonde hissed, causing Beca to turn around to face Aubrey and her fellow Bellas. "Were you trying to screw us up?"_

 _Hearing an argument starting to brew, the Trebles who were goofing around behind them stopped, wanting to listen in on the conversation. "Are you serious?" Beca asked, Aubrey now getting on her nerves. She heard Aubrey say something like "this isn't the Beca show". She didn't even plan for the sudden improv to be taken that way. "In case you haven't noticed, everyone pretty much dozed off during our set!"_

 _"It's not up to you to decide what we do and when we do it. Why don't you ask the rest of the group how they felt about your little improvisation?" Aubrey shot back, anger rising inside her. Beca just shook her head, declining to do exactly what Aubrey said. If she can't "decide what they do and when they do it", neither can Aubrey. Aubrey didn't have the right to tell her to ask the other Bellas what they thought because she knew that they were all going to agree with Aubrey, regarding her position as the captain of the Bellas._

 _Instead of answering her question, Beca turned her back on the Bellas, feeling frustrated, and balled up her fists, about done with Aubrey and the shit she's pulling._ _Beca then walked off, passed the Trebles, passed Jesse, leaving back stage, leaving the Bellas behind, leaving everything behind her._

 _She wasn't the only one to have left the Bellas behind back stage. Chloe left too, following Beca through back stage and out of back stage._

 _Chloe followed._

* * *

Beca looked down at the flier, then meeting Chloe's eyes again. "A capella?" she asked, receiving a simple nod from Chloe. "Oh right, this is a thing now."

"Totes," Chloe giggled, "we sing covers of songs, but do it without any instruments." She pointed to her mouth with her blue pen. "It all comes from our mouths." Beca lets out a small "yikes" before Chloe continued. "There are four groups on campus. The Bellas, that's us. We're the tits." Aubrey nodded in agreement. "The BU Harmonics. The High Notes. And then there's..." She trailed off, both her and Aubrey looking over their shoulders to the Treblemakers as they finished off _Let it Whip_.

Beca followed Chloe's gaze, watching the Treblemakers bow. She shook her head and glanced back at Chloe as her and Aubrey turned back to face her. "So, are you interested?" Chloe asked. Beca just wanted to yell "yes!" but she knew that she couldn't. She had to keep the events involving Chloe the same or it could mess everything up. She had to have Chloe barge into her shower. Not that she didn't really mind or anything, but each time she grew more self-conscious of herself.

"Sorry. It just seems pretty lame."

Hearing this leave Beca's lips, Aubrey's jaw dropped in shock. "Aca-scuse me? Synchronized lady dancing to a "Mariah Carey" chart topper is not lame," Aubrey hissed, feeling sort of offended.

"We sing all over the world and compete in national championships," Chloe told Beca, smiling slightly.

Beca gave them weird looks. "On purpose?" she asked.

Having crossed the line, Aubrey took a deep breath, preparing herself to go out on full on rage. Although each time, it never sounded like she was raging at Beca. "We played the Cobb Energy Performance Center you bitch!"

Chloe looked a Aubrey, a look that said "what the hell is wrong with you" as well as "calm your pits, Aubrey, she probably didn't mean it". "What Aubrey means to say is that we're a close-knit, talented group of ladies whose dream is to return to the national finals at Lincoln Center this year." Seeing Chloe holding out the sign-up sheet, Beca set down the flier. "Help us turn our dreams into a reality?" Chloe asked softly, a shine of hope in her eyes.

It was hard for Beca to say "no" to her face, but she had to do it anyways, for the sake of Chloe's life. She couldn't change anything. "Sorry, Chloe. I don't really sing, but it was really nice to meet you." Beca smiled sadly and walked passed their booth, heading to the internship booth.

* * *

Music blasted through the radio station as Beca walked in, passed the man at the front desk and over to the booth Luke was currently in, sitting at the desk surrounded by two computers and a turntable. Beca looked into the booth as she walked by it, eyeing the crates of CD's in the corner of the booth. She couldn't wait to start stacking CD's with Jesse again. And as always, she was being sarcastic about the fact.

Still glancing into the booth, Luke finally noticed that she has been standing by the door of the booth and walked to the door, opening it and turning down the volume of the music outside the booth.

"Have you been standing there long," he asked, his English accent lingering from his lips.

Beca immediately shook her head. She knew not to attempt to go into the booth because "freshman are not allowed in the booth". She made that mistake too many times after the first. "I'm Luke by the way," he started. "Station Manager. You must be Becky the intern?" And like all the other times, he got her name wrong. It happened so much that she eventually got used to being called "Becky" by him. She just let it slide.

Only a couple minutes late, Jesse rushed into the radio station, appearing behind Beca. "And I'm Jesse," he told Luke, sounding a bit out of breath as if he had just been running.

"I'm Luke. And you're late," Luke told him, going back inside the booth to grab one of the crates of CD's pilled in the corner. He left the booth and started walking towards the shelves of CD's near the back of the station, gesturing Beca and Jesse to follow.

Out of nowhere, Jesse says something along the lines of "I know you!". Beca just shook her head and watched as Luke set the crate on a wood table. Being ignored once didn't exactly stop him from repeating himself. Just a couple of minutes of being near him and she's already had enough.

"Okay," Luke said, stopping Jesse from saying another word. "You two can figure it out while you're stacking CD's." He gestured towards the many crates of CD's on the wood table. "When you're done, there's more. You're gonna be spending a lot of time together, so please…" Luke sighed. "No sex on the desk," he told them, hitting his hand on the desk twice before leaving Beca and Jesse alone to stack CD's.

Once he was out of plain sight, Jesse started up with the "I do know you" crap, going on and on about how he sang to her when she first arrived at Barden, despite the fact that she payed no attention to him during that time. Somehow, that moment couldn't be more stuck in her head.

Beca set down her back pack that she had brought with her to the station since she just came from one of her classes, and started stacking CD's like she was told to, Jesse following her actions. She picked up one of the CD's from the crate and turned it over, glancing at the back cover, then setting it back down. She grabbed another one and did the same. "This sucks," Beca said in defeat. "I just wanted to play music."

"Not me," Jesse replied immediately, catching a glimpse of the brunette. "I'm here for one reason only. I love stacking CD's." Beca rolled her eyes. Jesse walked over to one of the shelves and stacked the couple CD's he got from the crate. "What's your deal?" he asked. "Are you one of those girls who's all dark and mysterious until she takes off her glasses and that amazing scary ear spike and you realize that she was beautiful the whole time?"

Beca kept her eyes down at the CD's in the crates, picking up a CD, looking at it, then placing it back down. "I don't wear glasses," she told him, a blank expression lay on her face as she picked up another CD.

Jesse set one last CD down on the shelf. "Then You're half way there."

* * *

A couple hours have went by since she first came to the radio station for her new internship. Beca was happy that she finally got to leave, leave Luke, leave Jesse, leave the CD's that weren't at all stacked in any way. She could finally leave and work on her _Titanium_ mix she started working a couple days after the activities fair, something that she was hoping to do that day instead of stacking boring CD's. _What's the point of having CD's if they can be bought cheaper on_ _iTunes?_

Picking up her backpack, Beca headed out the door, then heading to her dorm to pick up her Mac Book, so she could listen to music and finish up her _Titanium_ mix outside on the grass. If that is what her dad meant by "study on the grass", then she's about to take his advice.

Upon finally getting back to her dorm after a long, tiring walk, Beca was silently greeted by Kimmy Jin and her friend from that Korean club she joined the day of the activities fair. Packing her Mac Book into her bag, Kimmy Jin actually said something about Beca having the internship and that she shouldn't be here now because of that. Though, Beca ignored her and finished packing, grabbing her Mac Book bag by the handle and leaving the room, Kimmy Jin and her friend now being alone again.

Beca left the building and walked around the campus, hoping to find an empty spot in the grass where she could finally be alone to work on the _Titanium_ mix. Once finding a good spot in the grass, Beca sat down and slid her back pack off her shoulders and moving it behind her. She set her Mac Book bag flat on the ground beside her and unzipped it, taking out her lap top and setting it on top of the now closed lap top bag. She opened it up and logged in, glancing at the people around her, all of them being in different groups. One of them were just sitting on the grass probably studying, another throwing the frisbee around, the last group running in countless circles.

Beca shook her head and took out her headphones, plugging it into her lap top as it continued to load. Once she was logged on, she opened her "Deejay" program, then opening her _Titanium_ mix file. After putting of her headphones, she pressed play, hearing the tune to _Titanium_ run through her ears.

She took one last look around at the many people with their friends. The group studying in the shade, the group tossing the frisbee around, and the group running in circles with their arms spread out. Sighing, Beca leaned back, resting her upper back and head on her back pack, listening to _Titanium_ , which happened to be Chloe's "lady-jam".

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you guys so much for all the follows and reviews! I really appreciate it!**

 **I'm sorry that this chapter wasn't as long as the last one. I would have added the shower scene to this chapter to end it off, but I decided to make a separate chapter for that because it really does deserve its own chapter. The amount of Bechloe in that scene is amazing. Anyways...**

 **I hoped that chapter was quite enjoyable. And again, sorry that it was short. The next chapter would probably be even shorter since it's just the 2 minute shower scene XD as well as the rest of the flash back.**

 **~Neradia**


	3. We are Titanium

_Beca had left the Bellas behind back stage. After the brief argument she had with Aubrey, she was done with the Bellas. She couldn't deal with being in the group if Aubrey was going to treat her like shit. Even though Aubrey has treated her like this since they met at the activities fair, she knew that the blonde had to cross some kind of line before it was considered enough. Every terrible argument with Aubrey always crossed that line. Now she had crossed it one too many times._

 _She hadn't gotten that far away from back stage, making it quite easy for Chloe to catch up with her. When it came to running in heels, she could out-run all the Bellas if she wanted to, including Aubrey. After what Aubrey did to Beca, Chloe began to feel guilty for not standing up for her when she had the chance. As she ran, she could feel her perfect bun start to become loose, so she pulled her hair out of the bun and allowed her red curls to fall. She took the hair ties and quickly slid them on her left wrist._

 _Hearing foot steps behind her, Beca stopped in the middle of the hallway and looked over her shoulder, watching as Chloe ran over to her. She was quite impressed that Chloe was running in that speed in heels. She's never seen this side of Chloe, the "I secretly trained to run in heels" Chloe. It was different and strange, something she couldn't quite understand. Why Chloe out of all people? Why would she run after Beca after what she did to ruin the Bellas chance of getting into the ICCAs?_

 _Beca turned herself around, Chloe finally reaching her and stopping in front of her. For a second, Beca felt her stomach turn at the lack of space between her and the redhead. It felt weirdly uncomfortable, yet understandable. Chloe doesn't know a thing about personal space._

 _Chloe grabbed a hold of both of Beca's hands (it was more like her wrists, but very close to her hands), forcing her to look straight into the ice blue eyes in front of her. "I'm so sorry about everything that happened with Aubrey," she started. "I wish I could have done something about it and-"_

 _She pulled away from Chloe's grip and took a step back. "No, Chloe," Beca retorted, "I don't want to talk about this right now, okay? It already happened. There's nothing that you can do now."_

 _"You don't understand, Becs." Chloe sighed. "I wanted to say something, but since Aubrey-"_

 _Beca cut her off. "Woah, wait. You did not just call me 'Becs'." Chloe nodded and winked. "You're such a weirdo."_

 _"Anyways, what I was saying was that Aubrey will just have to get used to you," Chloe told her. "She's just really controlling you know? And she's such a perfectionist, it's crazy." Beca nodded, agreeing with the her. "But she'll eventually open up her good side to you. I mean, probably not now because this year is about to end. Me and Aubrey are both seniors..."_

 _As Chloe went on, Beca's eyes left her's, wandering towards the ground. She was getting impatient. She just wanted to go back to her dorm and work on her mixes. Maybe get insulted by Kimmy Jin again. But besides the point, Beca wanted to forget that she messed up the Bellas' chance of making it to Lincoln Center. She crushed their dreams, like Chloe's nodes. After a couple of minutes, Beca put her hand on Chloe's shoulder, stopping her from rambling on about Aubrey and Lincoln Center and the Bellas..._

 _"Chloe, sorry to cut you short, but I really want to leave. Go back to my dorm. Get some things done," Beca muttered. "So, if you'll excuse me..." She turned her back towards Chloe and started walking off to the exit of the building, only to be stopped by her again._

 _A sigh leaving Beca's lips, she turned around. Chloe looked down at the floor, then up at the brunette. "Can I come with you?" she asked, her voice soft and quiet. "I don't want to go with the Bellas if you're not going."_

 _Beca's eyes began to wander. Around the hallway, the many posters and schedules hanging against the wall. Then down at the floor, the plain white floor, the floor that her dark navy blue heels that matched Chloe's touched. Then back to Chloe, the jewel around her neck outside of her Bella uniform. Now thinking of it, she couldn't let Chloe come with her. She had to go with the Bellas if she liked it or not._

 _She shook her head. "No. You can't come with me, Chloe."_

 _"Why?"_

 _"Because..." she had to come up with a good explanation. Something other then "if you come with me, you'll die and I'll have to set back time again before we met". Especially since she had never told Chloe about her "journey", it wouldn't be right to tell her out of the blue that she was going to die, then having to explain why and how she knew that. It would all just be complicated for the both of them. "...you need to be with the rest of the Bellas. Not me, not after what I just did."_

 _"I don't care if you made a 'mistake' during the performance. That doesn't change anything," Chloe shot back. "I think that it went really well with the improv. Aubrey is just a sore loser. She doesn't get anything, like at all." She took a step forward closer to Beca. "I don't want to be with the other Bellas."_

 _Beca pushed the redhead away from her. "Chloe please..." she sighed. "I just want to be alone right now." Chloe frowned. "I know that you really want to make things better for me, but I need my space and time alone. Just to think things over. And I'm being serious here."_

 _"I'll just take a cab then without you."_

 _She shook her head. "No, you can't. You /have/ to be with the Bellas. You have to find them and go with them back to Barden. Understood?"_

 _Chloe stayed silent for a couple of minutes. She really wanted to stay with Beca, but like she said, she needed time on her own. She understood that personal space is a big thing for Beca. And despite how much time they spend extremely close to each other, she could see why Beca needed her space. At the same time, she was worried about Beca. She never really acted this way around her. She never really sounded so harsh when she talked to her. Something was wrong, and she could tell by Beca's serious yet sad expression on her face and the constant demands that made Chloe question if she should follow those demands or not._

 _"I understand," she finally replied. "I'll leave you be and go with the Bellas back to Barden." Chloe sighed sadly and walked passed Beca, having her think that she was actually going to go ride home with the Bellas. Instead, she took a separate taxi, leaving just before Beca had._

 _Hearing Chloe say that she was going to go with the Bellas in a tone that she always used when she were to lie, Beca had a feeling that she had failed. That she had unsuccessfully stopped Chloe from going out on her own and getting herself into the crash._

 _And as Chloe got into the taxi, the jewel around her neck glowed dimly against her Barden Bellas uniform._

* * *

 _"You shout it out, but I can't hear a word you say_

 _I'm talking loud, not saying much"_

It was humid, awfully humid. There were no air conditioners. Nothing of the sorts. Just the humid air. The humid air that Beca immediately felt on her bare skin as she entered the communal showers. A navy blue bath robe was worn on her, hiding her naked body. She carried a towel to dry her off afterwards and a blue bag that held her shampoo, conditioner, body wash, et cetera in her other hand. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun, strands of hair cascading down the side of her face.

Beca got to an empty shower stall and tucked her tan-colored towel on the rack, then taking off her bath robe and hanging it up on a hook outside the shower curtain. She closed the shower stall with the white curtain and hung her blue bag on another hook inside the stall.

 _"I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose"_

Reaching her hand towards the shower's knob, she turned on the water, feeling the warmth of the water ride down her bare skin.

 _"Fire away, fire away_

 _Richocet, you take your aim_

 _Fire away, fire away"_

Getting to the main chorus, foot steps could be heard outside her stall. Beca took a deep breath as she mentally prepared herself to see Chloe in a naked state. She felt the humidity of the communal showers, making a note to herself that Chloe was now standing behind her, watching and hearing her sing the rest of the chorus of _Titanium_.

"You can sing!" a familiar voice blurted, interrupting Beca at the last note of the chorus.

Beca quickly turned around, seeing Chloe had been standing behind her, smiling wide, her eyes meeting Beca's. "Dude!" she yelled, pulling the shower curtain in front of her to cover up her bits, only to be pulled back open by Chloe.

"How high does your belt go?" she asked, reaching to turn the water off.

Beca tried to her hardest to avoid looking at Chloe's body, even though she had already seen it three times. She had it memorized. "My what?" she asked, grabbing her shampoo bottle from her bag as well as her loofa to cover her chest with. Feeling her skin run cold, she gasped. "Oh my god!"

"You have to audition for the Bellas," Chloe said happily.

Beca took steps back until she hit the corner of the shower stall. She kept her eyes up, avoiding the sight of Chloe's body. "I can't concentrate on anything you're saying til you cover your junk."

Chloe sighed softly. "Just consider it. One time, we sang back up for 'Prince'." The redhead moved closer to Beca. "His butt is so tiny, you can hold it in like one hand." Chloe held out her hands, palms up. She reached towards the shampoo bottle in Beca's hands and knocked it over. "Oops."

She didn't bother picking it back up. This was Chloe she was in the shower with. Only Chloe would do something like that. She wanted to make Beca feel more confident in herself. Either that or Chloe just didn't understand personal space. She was pretty sure that it was the second one.

As she took another step closer, Beca turned and pressed her naked body against the wall, the rose tattoo on her shoulder blade now visible to Chloe. "Seriously Chloe, I am nude."

Chloe thought for a second, something that would get Beca's mind off the current situation. The last thing she wanted to do was make her feel uncomfortable. "You were singing _Titanium_ , right?" Beca widened her eyes and looked over her shoulder at Chloe, her eyes wandering down her body. After one glance, Beca just couldn't peal away her eyes. But, she had to sometime because it would just make things awkward between them. Her eyes left Chloe's body and wandered towards her unforgettable facial features. The red strands of hair that were loosely hanging down the side of her face. Her bright and beautiful blue eyes. Her cute nose. Her smile, her amazing and memorable smile that was extremely contagious... Chloe eventually noticed that the brunette was staring and frowned. "Beca?" The DJ shook her head and allowed her eyes to linger to meet Chloe's. A sudden blush rose in her cheeks in embarrassment. "You were singing _Titanium_ , right?" she asked again.

"Y-you know David Guetta? Beca stuttered, excited yet nervous.

Chloe nodded. "Have I been living under a rock? Yeah. That song is my jam. My lady-jam."

"That's nice." Beca chuckled. And to this day, she still couldn't get over Chloe saying "lady-jam". Even though it's not particularly the most appropriate term to use, it could still deserve an awkward laugh.

The redhead smiled, hearing the chuckle escape Beca's lips. "Yeah, it is," she agreed. "The song really builds." Chloe winked. Beca cringed and whispered "gross" at Chloe's comment on the song. "Can you sing it for me?" she asked.

"Dude no! Get out!" Beca yelled, but honestly, she didn't want to yell at Chloe.

"Not for that reason," Chloe shot back. "I'm not leaving here until you sing, so…" Beca pressed her hand against the tiled wall and looked over her shoulder, glaring at Chloe. The redhead took a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh. Gaining the confidence she needed to get through this, Beca turned to face Chloe, holding the loofa close to her chest as well as her arms. She glanced at Chloe, then the wall.

 _"I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose"_

Beca's eyes left the wall and met Chloe's eyes, hearing the redhead's voice harmonize with her own.

 _"Fire away, fire away_

 _Richochet, you take your aim_

 _Fire away, fire away_

 _Shoot me down, but I won't fall_

 _I am titanium"_

Beca began to feel more comfortable and allowed her arms to leave her chest and hang by her side. A smile crept on her face, finally realizing something she hadn't before.

They were connecting. They had a connection.

Their eyes were locked, their voices sounded perfect together. It seemed like they have suddenly moved closer to each other too and never quite noticed it. She knew that this time was different from all the others. Beca knew Chloe's name and Chloe knew her's before the first Bella rehearsal. Beca found it difficult to say "no" to Chloe's face. Beca felt as if she couldn't breathe at the lack of space between her and Chloe just now. All those other times weren't like this.

 _"Shoot me down, but I won't fall_

 _I am titanium"_

Beca and Chloe stopped and just stared at each other, smiling, butterflies rising in Beca's stomach. They allowed minutes to pass just of them staring at each other in the silence. Beca's eyes finally left Chloe's. She quickly glancing at her body, then up at the ceiling. Chloe looked down at herself, then back at Beca.

"Yeah, I'm pretty confident about…" she paused and gestured towards her bits, "all this."

Beca nodded in agreement. "You should be," she whispered softly. Chloe nodded back and reached for Beca's towel, handing it to her. Beca held the towel close to her, not leaving Chloe's eyes. "I still need to shower." Chloe only continued to smile. "You should probably go," she told Chloe.

"Oh, right," Chloe said, nodding. "I guess I'll see you at auditions, Beca." With that, Chloe left, leaving Beca alone in the shower stall, a sigh of relief and happiness escaping her lips.

* * *

 **A/N:** **Thanks for the reviews and follows! And favorites!**

 **~Neradia**


	4. When I'm Gone

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in so long. I had finals that I had to study for and I had to take them all this week. After this week, I'll update chapters more often if I'm not busy with family stuff. Thanks for waiting and enjoy!**

 **~ Neradia**

* * *

"Wait," Chloe called from the front row of the auditorium, right near the stage, "there's one more." She gestured towards the brunette who was partially hiding back stage.

It has been weeks since the activities fair. And now, students were finally able to audition for an a cappella group. The Bellas, the Treblemakers, the High Notes, or the BU Harmonics. Each person who auditioned had to sing sixteen bars of Kelly Clarkson's _Since U Been Gone_. They were only allowed to use their mouths. No instrumental music in the background, no instruments in general. Just their mouths.

Most of the time, Chloe was focused on whether Beca had decided to show or not to the auditions. At some points, she would space out in her thoughts, only to be brought back to reality by Aubrey, who was sitting next to her during auditions. Aubrey was curious why Chloe was acting so quiet and stuck inside her thoughts. But she was never able to ask since she was judging the women that were specifically auditioning for the Bellas. She was the captain of the a cappella group after all. She had a job to uphold.

Unlike Chloe, she was more serious about picking good quality singers that would get them back into the ICCAs. This year, it was difficult to decide because most of the women who were trying out didn't exactly fit her expectations. It wasn't that they weren't good singers, it was their appearances that Aubrey didn't like. Now that the auditions had ended (well at least were supposed to end until Chloe spotted a nervous Beca back stage), she became frustrated at the fact that she would have to choose most of the girls that auditioned despite their looks. Seeing that Beca surprisingly showed up only made the fact worse, having not liked her from the beginning when they met at the activities fair.

Those ear monstrosities.

Chloe watched closely as Beca walked on to the stage, waving shyly to her and Aubrey. She told them that she didn't know that she had to prepare a certain song. Hell, she could have. She just decided to lay low back stage until the auditions ended, then to be in Chloe's plain view. She was late anyways. It wasn't like she could just jump into the audition song. They don't even have her registration form. She never received one at the activities fair, but she's auditioning now. She really had no choice since Chloe barged into her shower...

again.

"That's okay, just sing anything you want," Chloe told her as Beca got on to her knees in front of her and Aubrey. She reached over the gap between the stage and the table in front of Chloe and Aubrey, but stopped before completely grabbing ahold of the yellow cup that held several different types of pens and other writing utensils. Besides the cup, there was a pile of registration forms scattered in front of Aubrey and an unnecessary desk light.

Chloe eyed the yellow cup Beca was about to pick up and gave her the okay to do so. Still holding her ground on the stage, Beca gently spilled the pens on to the grey-surfaced table and took the cup off the table, pulling herself back, her full body weight now on the stage. As she crossed her legs and set the cup on the stage upside down, Aubrey gave her a confused look, not seeing an audition quite like this. Chloe became more interested, wondering what Beca had in mind.

Now having Chloe and Aubrey's full attention, Beca started her audition. She used the yellow cup as a drum throughout her audition. It was different from the other last minute auditions they've seen. Maybe the only last minute audition they've ever seen. Aubrey didn't seem too interested as Beca sang her audition song that she chose herself. Chloe on the other hand was smiling the whole time, impressed.

 _"You're gonna miss me when I'm gone"_

Beca finished off her audition. She didn't think that she would've been able to get through the audition a fourth time. After using the same song four times for the same audition, the song has gotten old to her. It was a catchy song, but not a "I really want to impress the bitch of a leader" song. After each of the four auditions, Aubrey would always be debating in her head whether she should allow Beca into the group and Chloe would immediately say "yes". It never came to Beca why Chloe liked her so much. The whole shower thing could be one of those reasons, but at the same time...

Not getting a response from either of them, she nodded to herself and reached over to set the cup back on the table in front of them. She stood up, saying a simple "thank you" before walking off the stage. But like Beca had figured, Chloe turned to Aubrey once she had left and gave her that look, a look that she always used when she wanted something. In this case, she wanted Beca to be a Bella. And despite Aubrey's negative thoughts on Beca, she couldn't say no to her redheaded co-captain.

Aubrey had to think.

Chloe was in the group too. She wasn't the only leader of the Bellas. She had to respect Chloe's thoughts on Beca, not just her own. Aubrey wasn't in charge of the whole group. Her and Chloe had to make decisions together. They had to figure this out together. And they did. The two picked girls that had enough potential and talent to be in the group. To Aubrey's displeasing, Beca was one of them.

* * *

A month had already past since she started time over a fourth time. Everything was the same. All the events that happened over the past month were the same. Her dorm room stayed the same, the activities fair stayed the same. Even the auditorium stayed the same. But it wasn't something Beca was bored of. She eventually got used to having the same events repeat countless times. She got used to her boring, old dorm room which Kimmy Jin kept most of white. The only thing that truly changed was Chloe.

Just Chloe.

Ever since the two met at the activities fair then in the communal showers, they would always end up walking passed each other on the quad or in between classes. It was always and has been coincidental. Unless Chloe purposely went a certain way just to run into Beca. Chloe could have already memorized Beca's schedule over the first month she's been there. Just the classroom numbers and time of hour. Nothing too weird.

Maybe it was a little too weird.

She didn't think Chloe had memorized her dorm room number before she was even accepted into the Bellas.

It was a couple days before the "Aca-Initiation Night" or what Aubrey liked to call it, "Hood Night". Beca was in her dorm room, asleep, despite the fact that it was the middle of the day. At that moment, Beca was the only person in her and Kimmy Jin's dorm room, so she was able to catch up on sleep without Kimmy Jin and her friends from the Korean Club interrupting her sleep. It was the only time really when Beca could get some rest. But somehow, it only happened to be cut short, way too short.

What she hadn't noticed while she was asleep was that Chloe just so happened to be sitting in front of her. She never figured out how she got into the room without having a key to unlock the door. Right then, Beca didn't care how Chloe got in, she just wanted to sleep.

Feeling Chloe shift her position on Beca's bed, she blinked opened her eyes, a smiling redhead glancing down at her as she woke up from her sleep. Beca yawned softly and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, Chloe still staring at her in awe.

"You look cute when you're asleep," Chloe said suddenly. Beca groaned and pulled the blankets over her head. "Maybe I should have just let you sleep."

"You think so?" she hissed, folding the blankets back over so she had a perfect view of Chloe. "I'm not exactly the kind of person that wants to be waken by someone."

Chloe nodded. "Noted."

Beca sighed and sat up, her back resting against the many propped-up pillows behind her. It was weird seeing Chloe actually in her dorm room before "Aca-Initiation Night". This had never happened before. It was like each time she would set back time, Chloe would be closer and closer to her. The situation was different, yet it was comforting. She actually had a friend (besides Kimmy Jin) before "Aca-Initiation Night". Well, at least Chloe thought of her as a friend, right? She did see her naked in the communal showers.

"So... how did you get in here? I thought I locked the door. How did you figure out my dorm room number?" Beca asked, pulling her legs out from under the blankets and sitting with her legs crossed.

Chloe laughed a little. "You didn't lock the door." Beca scratched the top of her head, a little confused. She must have been completely out of it when she came back from her Philosophy class to have thought that she locked the door before she crashed. "Oh!" Chloe beamed. "And the whole dorm room thing? I figured out who your roommate was and just asked her."

"Right." Beca nodded, a little weirded out by Chloe's reply.

For a moment, it was silent. Completely silent. It was only her and Chloe. No one else. Nothing else. Only the stares between her and Chloe. Nothing but the foot steps can be heard in the several hallways outside the dorm room and the quiet music still playing from Beca's headphones near her laptop.

It was Chloe who broke that silence. With one glance of the jewel hanging around Beca's neck, her mind sparked with curiosity. She had never seen Beca wear that necklace before. She had never seen a necklace like that at all. The jewel was a light blue, a light blue that corresponded well with Chloe's eyes. She felt as if she was connected to the jewel or the jewel was connected to her. She felt some kind of pull.

Chloe moved closer to Beca and gently touched the jewel around her neck. "What's this?" she asked, pulling her hand away from the jewel after simply skimming her finger tips along it. "Is it some kind of family thing?"

Beca shook her head. She figured that Chloe would ask about it at some point. Just not this soon. She thought maybe after the first couple of Bella rehearsals. It always came up later in the year, usually before January. For once, Beca didn't know what to say to Chloe. She couldn't tell her the truth. Despite it being only a month into the school year, the fourth time was finally considered the most difficult to get through.

Watching Chloe's eyes still lay on her jewel, Beca put a hand on her shoulder to shake her out of her trance with the jewel. "Chloe, it's not exactly an easy thing to explain, but…" She hopped off the bed and walked to her desk, grabbing the handle of her black, supposedly empty laptop bag. She went back to her bed and set her bag on the bed, unzipping the main pocket. Reaching her hand into the bag, she unzipped a smaller pocket inside the bag, gripping tightly on Chloe's half of the jewel. Chloe's eyes widened at the jewel that she pulled out of the bag, mesmerized by it's light blue color that matched with the color of the jewel around Beca's neck. "…my dad got these stupid (not so stupid) friendship necklaces. He said that I have to give it to the first friend I make on campus. In this case, it's you. You, Chloe, asked me to be in an a cappella group that I didn't want to be apart of. You barged into my shower just to persuade me to audition after hearing me sing _Titanium_. And you didn't take no for an answer." As Beca went on, Chloe's smile grew wider, hearing how much the brunette really considered her as her friend even after barging into her shower. Beca on the other hand was glad that Chloe was believing this stupid lie.

Stopping Beca from continuing her speech, Chloe put a hand on top of Beca's, the hand that wasn't holding the necklace. "Thank you. But what about Kimmy Jin? She's your roommate. I thought you were friends with her." This question made Beca laugh, more than she had expected to.

"Chloe, Kimmy Jin isn't my friend. She said it herself." Beca smiled slightly. "She sort of hates me anyways." Chloe giggled. Sighing, Beca continued. "Anyways, I pick you. I'm going to give this to you. But, there is one rule…" She thought for a second. "Two rules." The redhead nodded, allowing Beca to continue.

She climbed back on to the bed and prompted for Chloe to turn around so she could put the necklace on her neck. "I know that I haven't been accepted to the Bellas yet, but you need to follow these rules no matter what," Beca continued, draping the chain over Chloe's neck before attempting to clip the chain together without getting a strand of her hair caught. As she did, Chloe felt chills rise up her back at the contact of Beca's hands on her skin. "One. Never take the necklace off. I mean, never." Chloe nodded. "Two." She finally clipped on the necklace and gestured Chloe to turn herself back around. "Don't take it off during performances, even if Aubrey tells you to do so. Just hide it in a pocket or tuck it in your top while you're wearing it."

She nodded again. "Understood," she told Beca, glancing down at the unforgettable jewel that hung around her neck. "I understand."

* * *

It was finally "Aca-Initiation Night". A night where people who have recently got accepted into an a cappella group party, listen to very loud music, get drunk, and meet people that joined the other rival groups. Most of the time, people are drinking and getting drunk, eventually having to leave because of that. By the end of the night, there are only twenty or so people left in the quad. The music stops playing and they just lazily sit around still drinking out of their red solo cups.

After Aubrey and Chloe had their Initiation for the new Bellas to "celebrate" and officially make them apart of their a cappella group, the group went down to the quad for "Aca-Initiaion Night". The Initiation they hosted before the party was held in some kind of empty dance studio. It was a little bit crazy at first. They were asked to say stuff like "I promise to never have sexual relations with a Treblemaker or may my vocal chords ripped out by wolves". The new members were also given yellow scarves to wear tightly around their necks for performances. They had to drink from a wine glass (like the ones they use in churches). Aubrey told the new Bellas that it was "the blood of the former Bellas", but it turned out to be just Boones Farm, which Beca already knew. And Fat Amy still ended up drinking the rest of it after the lights flashed back on at the end of the Initiation.

Arriving at the quad, the group separated, wanting to talk with all the other new members who also got in to an a cappella group of their choice. Some went to the front of the quad to dance to the music that was playing very loudly over the speakers. Most of the new Bellas went to get drinks, all but Beca and Chloe. During most of the night, Chloe was with the guy she was showering with a couple weeks ago. Beca figured that they were together, seeing them making out on and off, which was too much of her displeasing. It was weird seeing this side of Chloe, but after three other times of seeing her like this during the party, she got used to it. It still felt a little awkward seeing her with someone she could never picture her being with, especially after almost having to meet him in the communal showers. She had to thank him for not barging in on her and Chloe that time.

Now it being a couple hours in to the party, Beca, who still didn't have a drink, watched as Jesse came over for about the fifth time that night. She knew that he would ask her questions like "we should go see a movie sometime" or "do you want me to get you a drink?". Each time, Beca had said "no". Yet, he would keep crawling back, asking her the same questions. He could have been more drunk than he thought he was.

Finally leaving her alone to go dance with the people at the front of the quad, she let out a sigh of relief. Though, it couldn't have gotten any worse, seeing a bubbly redhead walk towards her. She was probably the only sober person that she could talk to right then. Beca didn't mind that it was Chloe. Chloe always comes up to her during the party and tells her what great friends they are going to be. And she wasn't wrong.

Approaching her, Chloe grabbed Beca's hands and pulled her closer to her, their faces only inches apart. Beca stared straight into her eyes, Chloe doing the same. "I am so glad I met you," Chloe stated happily, keeping a tight grip on Beca's hands. The redhead leaned in. Beca swore that their noses almost touched. "I think we're gonna be really fast friends," she whispered.

Beca pulled back a little and nodded. "Yeah?" Chloe nodded, answering her question. "Well, you saw me naked, so…" she trailed off and winked.

Chloe giggled and glanced down at the jewel that hung around her neck as it dimly glowed a light shade of blue. "Thank you again for this." To Beca's surprise, Chloe wrapped her arms around her, pulling her into a hug. "I'm really glad that you think of me like that," she whispered in Beca's ear before she let go. "And like you said, I promise I won't take it off even during performances. I will treasure this until I graduate." Beca only smiled and nodded. "I hope that we'll get to hangout outside of practice. It would be nice to get to know you better."

"Thank you," Beca muttered.

"Do you want a drink?" Chloe asked. Beca shook her head. "Okay, well…" she sighed and let go off the brunette's hands. "I guess I'll see you later." Taking a couple steps away from Beca, she looked over her shoulder and waved a small "goodbye", then continuing on to the front of the quad to get herself a drink. Beca smiled slightly, watching Chloe walk away from her and starting another conversation with one of the new Bellas.

As the night went on, the music only got louder and people were beginning to leave, probably having classes early the next day. Though, there was still a lot of people crowded around the front of the quad. But when _Keep Your Head Up_ by Andy Grammer played through the loud speakers, a rush of sadness sparked through Beca as she watched (from the corner of her eye) Chloe and the guy that was in the shower with her (she's pretty sure his name was Tom) make out. She had seen them lip-locked early that night. It didn't make sense to her why things would be different then. It was like everything crashed in front of her. Like her whole world was caving in. In Beca's storm blue eyes, she saw her best friend with someone, who she knew right off the bat, that would end up breaking her heart.

And he did.


	5. It Was Just a Dream, Right?

**_A fourteen year-old Beca ran down the stairs after waking up early that morning. It was a Wednesday. A boring old Wednesday. And Wednesdays weren't exactly Beca's favorite days of the week. Not only did she have to go to school, but it also meant that she was going to be home by herself when she comes home and she will be for the rest of the night. It did bother Beca. It also made her feel alone. Her mom stays stuck drunk at the local bar between four o'clock and ten o'clock at night and her dad stays at work for a couple extra hours (his regular hours being from seven o'clock in the morning to six o'clock at night)._**

 ** _Making her way to the kitchen to have breakfast with her dad , she heard the twenty-inch TV that was set up on the kitchen counter announce the_** ** _latest news like they usually did every morning. The morning news was always Beca's least favorite news time. They showed things that Beca didn't really like. Car crashes, gun shootings, robberies, kidnappings, et cetera. She feared that one day, one of those people will be her. It was something a normal teenager wouldn't think about for the rest of their life. To Beca, she considered herself not normal for thinking about those scenarios all the time._**

 ** _Beca sat down on the stool at the island and watched the morning news, despite that she hated it, as her dad set down a bowl of cereal in front of her. Her dad always said: the news is a great way to find out what's going on around town._**

 ** _She glanced into her bowl of cereal, noticing that there was no milk. Sighing, she simply told her dad that he had forgotten the milk. He said something along the lines of "Oh, sorry I must have forgotten" and grabbed the milk from the refrigerator and set it down on the island in front of her. "Thanks dad," she smiled, pouring the milk into the bowl. Beca picked up her spoon and swirled the milk and cereal around before scooping it up in her spoon and taking a bite._**

 ** _As she ate her breakfast, she continued to watch the news, counting how many car crashes, kidnappings, and gun shootings happened over the past 24 hours. And by the time she finished her breakfast, she counted three car crashes, five kidnappings, and two gun shootings that all happened in Portland, Maine the night before. Beca frowned and stood up to rinse out her bowl and place it in the sink. In between the time she rinsed it out and placed it in the sink, her dad had an argument with her mom (again for the tenth time that week) and left for work. Also, her mom came into the kitchen and made herself toast. She was still in her pajamas and her hair was in a messy bun just like every morning for the past month. Beca_** ** _thought that maybe her mom was depressed, but it turned out that her mom wasn't showing up at work every day. She found out that she got fired from her job a month ago and that's when all the fighting and arguing between her parents started._**

 ** _That whole month was weird, yet hard for Beca. Since they were arguing so much, she had no one that could help her with her homework, essays, and long-term projects. Even worse, it was difficult to always hear them bickering in their bedroom or in the_** ** _living room. Sometimes, she just can't stand it and stays in her room for the rest of the night. No dinner, no movie, no nothing._**

 ** _Placing her bowl in the sink, Beca went back to the island and sat down next to her mom, listening and watching one last news report before a talk show that her mom likes comes on. It was about another car crash, which made that three a four. It wasn't just a normal car though. A taxi. A taxi crash. Beca's eyes glanced down to the bar at the bottom on the screen that said it's name and location. Atlanta, Georgia. This confused Beca. The news reporters never had reported on news that happened down south. It was always Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire._**

 ** _"An eighteen year-old woman named Chloe Beale, who was in the taxi at the time, was killed instantly due to the hard impact to her head. The driver of the taxi, who's name is currently unknown, survived the crash. Although he is still unconscious and is now being taken to a local hospital," said a woman's voice in the background, pictures of both the taxi driver and the Chloe girl showing up on the screen._**

 ** _Beca's stormy blue eyes widened as she watched the screen in shock. She knew that girl. She went to Deering High School with Beca before she graduated last year. The two never really talked much or saw each other in the hallway, but Beca knew those red locks from anywhere. She just couldn't believe that Chloe Beale died that morning, especially since she had her whole life to live. Her whole life to go to college, graduate from college, get a job of her dreams, get married, have kids, the whole package. Now, she won't get to have that._**

 ** _Right then, her mom switched the channel to something that wasn't all that upsetting. Beca almost protested for her to turn it back, but she stopped herself before she could say one word and stood up, grabbed her backpack, and headed out, even though her ride to school was not quite at her house yet._**

 ** _She only took a couple steps off the porch before she started seeing the whole crash in front of her. The taxi, the many cars jammed behind the crash site, the ambulance, and the paramedics. She swore she saw an older version of herself making her way over to Chloe as if she knew her._**

 ** _Beca immediately shook her head, not believing what was right before her eyes, like it was some kind of hallucination. Each time she did, the scene wouldn't go away. It just became more clear to her. Everything became more clear to her._**

 _Flashing open her eyes, a still fourteen year-old Beca woke up from what could have been a nightmare. But it could have also been a sign._

 _On Beca's thirteenth birthday, she got two jewels from her mom, both being separated from each other. She told her that the jewels were special and that she can never lose them like she did all of her jewelry she had gotten from various places. Beca questioned why they were glowing dimly. Why her mom was giving them to her. What the jewels meant. And why they were important to not lose. She got all of those answers in just one night, well except one. 'How do I know who the person is?'. As time went by, she eventually figured it out herself. But then there was another question that she came up with once she figured out the last one. 'Why is this person important to keep alive?'. That question. She never quite figured it out._

 _Sighing, Beca glanced over at her bedside table at the two separated jewels that were both on a chain, separate chains. Still lying down, she reached one arm over the gap between the twin bed and the bedside table and grabbed her half of the jewel, watching as it let off a light blue glow._

* * *

After the "Aca-Initiation Night" ended, Beca went back to her dorm. She was probably the only person to leave by herself, the other girls in the a cappella group leaving with someone they became good friends with over the last three hours that they were actually there. She didn't mind leaving on her own. She had always left on her own. No one was really around her anyways, except Jesse. Beca could have left with Jesse, but by the end of the night, she had already had enough of him constantly asking her the weirdest questions as he drank his mind away. It was something that wanted to make Beca leave sooner than she had planned. Although, she had to stay to see an argument that went down between Tom (the guy Chloe was making out with throughout the night) and Chloe.

The last time she set back time, something changed during the "Aca-Initiation Night". Chloe and Tom kissed more than they did the other times, only to be broken up by an argument that told Beca to just ignore and stay away from. Numerous shit went down during that argument. They referenced times that Tom let her down and vise versa. Also, there was a whole heated conversation about Chloe's "relationship" with Beca that only shocked her the first time it happened. Beca always questioned why they argued like that just the third and now the fourth time around. It made her question why more things were changing as time went on.

Now that Beca had went back to her dorm, she wondered what would happen the next day at rehearsal and maybe that night. The first time the whole argument thing happened, Chloe didn't show up to rehearsal, despite it being the first. And since Aubrey couldn't get her to talk, she asked Beca to ask her what happened. But this time? This time was completely different. It felt different. Being closer to her than the other three times, Chloe could stop by at Beca's dorm and sleep over. Beca could force her to go to the first Bella rehearsal of the year. At that point, she wouldn't know what Chloe would say to her.

Reaching her dorm room, Beca unlocked the door and walked in, instinctively turning on the lights. Her eyes wandered straight to Kimmy Jin's empty bed. She sighed in relief, happy that Kimmy Jin wasn't here. The last time she flicked on the lights like that, Kimmy Jin scolded her for the rest of the night and the next morning. She was almost glad that Kimmy Jin joined a club that kept her out of the dorm room so she could be alone most of the time.

Beca changed quickly into more comfortable clothing than she had on before and unplugged her lap top on her desk, setting it down on her bed. She brought out her headphones too and plugged them into her lap top. Climbing on to her bed, she moved back until her back hit the many pillows behind her and pulled her Mac Book on to her lap, then logging in. She slid on her headphones she had plugged in earlier and clicked on her "DeeJay" program, opening a file that was already pre-made. Beca was so close to pressing play on her mix, but was interrupted by a quiet yet audible knock on the door. _It's Chloe, isn't it?_ she asked herself, picking up her lap top and setting it back down beside her. She took of her headphones and placed it on the bed near the Mac Book before standing up and going to the door. Beca slowly opened the door, revealing an obviously upset Chloe. Her hair had lost it's curls, her face was completely tear-stained, her makeup was smudged underneath her eye lids.

"Chloe? Is everything okay?" Beca asked, her eyes never leaving the redhead's. Chloe simply shook her head. "Do you want to come inside?" To that, she nodded immediately. Smiling slightly, Beca gestured for her to come in and watched Chloe walk straight passed her, then turning around to face her. At first, there was only silence between them. That was until Beca saw tears brim Chloe's eyes, threatening to fall. "Hey," Beca said softly, taking a couple steps closer to her, "why are you so upset?"

The redhead glanced down at the floor for a second then met Beca's eyes again. "T-Tom broke up with me…" she stuttered. Beca sighed and came closer to her, wrapping her arms around her. Chloe hugged her back and cried silently on Beca's shoulder, letting out a few sobs here and there.

Beca rubbed her back, attempting to calm her down a bit. "Shhh. You're okay. You're okay," she repeated. "I'm here…"

After hugging for a couple of minutes, Beca let go and looked into Chloe's eyes. Moving her hand towards Chloe's face, she wiped away the tears that were left on her face, receiving a small smile from her. "Thank you," she sniffed, her eyes wandering towards Beca's lap top on her bed. "Did I pull you from something?" Beca shook her head. "I heard that you make mixes. Like remixes?"

"Yeah, I do," Beca answered. "I was working on a mix before you knocked." Chloe looked down, feeling that she interrupted Beca from something that was more important than her relationship drama. Beca frowned at this and took Chloe's hand in her's. "Hey, it wasn't really that important. I promise. I didn't start much anyways. But, if you want, I can show you a mix that I made." Her face lit up, excited to hear one of Beca's mixes. "I think that you'll really like it." Watching as Chloe nodded, Beca got on to her bed. She picked up her lap top and set it down on her lap like it was before, putting on her headphones. She fiddled with her mouse a bit before noticing that Chloe was still standing there. Beca sighed and gestured for Chloe to climb on to the bed, and she did.

Chloe moved herself so she was sitting very close to Beca and looked at the screen in front of her. "Thank you again for this," she whispered. "You're probably the only friend I have that would help me through a break-up."

Beca stopped for a second and shifted her eyes towards Chloe. "What about Aubrey?"

"She's not the comforting type of person," she replied simply. "She also sort of hates Tom anyways. And I don't really want her to tell me 'I told you so'." Beca nodded understandingly and clicked on the mix file that she wanted Chloe to listen to. Hovering the mouse over the play button, Beca took off her headphones and gave them to Chloe. Smiling, she accepted the headphones and put them on her head, waiting for Beca to press play. Once she did, the headphones began to be filled with an orchestra sounding beat, that was accompanied by lyrics from _Release Me_ about twenty seconds in.

As Chloe continued to listen, _Bulletproof_ echoed through the headphones and into her ears. The two songs eventually mixed together, the lyrics overlapping each other. It sounded amazing. How each sound matched perfectly together as if both songs were one. How each beat could separately be heard from all the others. How each note stood out in some way that just made everything more upbeat. How the high notes mixed perfectly with the low notes. It was something that Chloe had never heard of before. It was something she only wished to hear over and over again.

When the song finished, Chloe took off the headphones and gave them back to Beca, noting that she was probably waiting for a response of feedback. Chloe sighed and glanced at Beca, her ice blue eyes meeting Beca's stormy blue ones. "I loved it, Becs," she told her.

Beca chuckled at the nickname Chloe gave her. "Thank you. I'm glad you liked it."

Chloe smiled and watched as Beca clicked out of the file and shut her lap top closed, taking it off her lap and setting it down beside her along with the headphones. "Beca?" she asked suddenly, gaining the brunette's attention back.

"Yeah?"

Shifting into a more comfortable sitting position, Chloe let out a small yawn. "Is it okay if I stayed here for the night? I don't really want Aubrey to-"

"Of course. You had a rough night," Beca said softly, interrupting Chloe mid-sentence. "Just get some sleep, okay?" Chloe nodded in agreement and rested her head on her friend's shoulder, yawning again. Beca looked at the redhead as she slowly fell asleep and ran her fingers through her red curls. "Goodnight Chloe."

* * *

 **A/N: I never added an author's note when I posted this last night. It was so late and I was completely out of it and I must have forgotten to write an A/N. But I hope the chapter was enjoyable! So, thank you for the reviews and follows. I really appreciate all the feedback!**

 **~Neradia**


	6. Convincing Changes Everything

**A/N: I'm so so so sorry that I haven't updating in so long. It's been a long couple of weeks. A mix of being very busy and having a very bad case of writer's block. But, thanks for waiting very patiently and enjoy! Hopefully after this chapter, updates will be more often.**

 **Also, sorry that this chapter is sort of short.**

 **And again, enjoy!**

 **-Neradia**

* * *

"I'm not going," Chloe told her, standing up from Beca's bed and walking over to her as she picked out what she was going to wear from her closet.

Beca only sighed. She had figured the Chloe would protest to go to the first Bella rehearsal. After what had happened during Aca-Initiation Night, Chloe was a complete wreck. Beca knew that Chloe wouldn't be up to going to the first Bella rehearsal. Chloe never went the first time this had happened, she could easily not go the second time either.

"I just need a break. You said it yourself. I had a rough night," she continued.

"Chloe." Beca stopped and turned around to face her. "You're the co-captain. You have to go. Imagine how Aubrey will feel if you don't show up. Imagine how the other Bellas will feel if you don't show."

Chloe shook her head. "It doesn't matter how Aubrey feels. If Aubrey's pissed because I didn't go, then she's pissed. I can't do anything about it." Beca turned back around and picked out her brown plaid shirt and set it down on her bed, then going back to her closet. She grabbed a pair of dark colored jeans and set them down as well. Chloe stood behind her as she turned back to the closet. Feeling as though her thoughts are being ignored or sounding irrelevant to Beca, she reached out and grabbed the brunette's wrist, gripping it tightly. "Are you listening to me?"

Beca pulled her wrist out of Chloe's grip and continued to search through her closet. At this point, she didn't care about what Chloe had to say. No matter what Beca said, Chloe easily found a way around it.

Being left in silence, Chloe crossed her arms over her chest, impatiently waiting for the silence to be broken by Beca's voice. Chloe's bright blue eyes wandered around the room, her mind questioning why it was mostly white. She guessed that Beca didn't really mind the flat color to cover most of the room. Just being in her dorm twice made her feel like she knew Beca a lot more compared to when they first met. After what happened the night before, she hoped that she could get through this day without being pressured to go anywhere or do anything, especially by Beca. That hope immediately went down the drain when she woke up that morning.

A couple minutes passed and Beca was still searching through her closet. Chloe was sure that she was only trying to stall her way out of the conversation. To not have that happen, she grabbed Beca's wrist again and spun her around so she was facing her. "What's wrong with you?" Chloe asked harshly.

"Well, what I got from everything that happened this morning is that you're stubborn, heartless, and irresponsible for your role as co-captain," Beca answered, her voice rising in anger.

Chloe opened her mouth in shock at what Beca had said, letting a small gasp leave her lips. "I'll have you know that I just went through a break up that tore my heart completely. No wonder why you think I'm heartless because my heart is currently broken and shredded into pieces. Maybe you just don't understand what going through a break up feels like. Do you even know what being in love feels like?" she shot back.

Beca glanced down at the floor. "I don't understand. And I've never been in love either, but using that as an excuse," she started, her eyes meeting Chloe's again, "is foolish. Just because I don't understand what a break up feels like, does not mean that I can't help you get through this. That also doesn't mean that you have the right to miss this first rehearsal. If I were you, I would keep my head up and go."

"Okay," Chloe sighed in defeat, "I'll go." At this, Beca smiled. "But if something happens during rehearsal, I'm blaming it on you."

Beca chuckled and took a hold of Chloe's hand. "Do you want to borrow some of my clothes for today? And then you can give them back the next time I see you?" she asked.

"Thanks, but I can just stop by my apartment and change there."

Beca nodded. "That works too, but what about Aubrey?"

Chloe shook her head and smiled. "Knowing Aubrey, she's probably already at rehearsal. We won't run into her there."

* * *

After Beca had changed into what she was going to wear to the first rehearsal, both her and Chloe went to her apartment that she shared with Aubrey. She had to change out of the clothes she wore all night before and that morning and put on new ones. Chloe knew that doing that would clear Aubrey's suspicious thoughts about why she never came home that night. Also, she didn't want to wear the clothes she wore yesterday to the first rehearsal. She had to make a good first impression to the new Bellas. Both Chloe and Beca were glad that once they got there, Aubrey had just left for the rehearsal which Chloe told her that she usually stays up all night preparing for.

The apartment was big for an on campus apartment. It was more like a small frat house. There was only one floor. A large living room, a kitchen, bathroom, two bedrooms, and a laundry room. Waiting for Chloe to open the door, Beca peaked through the window on the door, staring at what she could see of the inside of the apartment in awe. She eventually had to move away from the door when Chloe had unlocked it and opened it. Beca avoided Chloe's eyes and walked in first, the redhead following behind.

Once Beca had walked in, she immediately looked around the apartment, admiring the living room and the kitchen as Chloe went to her bedroom to change. Beca waited for what seemed like an hour. In that hour she swore she heard the shower running which left her more time to look around the apartment, mostly the living room. There were a stack of movies siting on the coffee table and a couple remotes, one controlling the DVR and one controlling the cable. She was unsure what the third one did.

The hour had come to an end and Beca could hear that the shower had stopped running, telling her that Chloe got out of the shower and went to her room to change into different clothes. As she did, Beca decided to go into the kitchen. She sat down at the island in the middle of the kitchen that connected with the living room and allowed her eyes to wander around. Marble counter tops, some cabinets, an oven, microwave, stove, sink. And then there were smaller appliances too that were on the counter.

Twenty more minutes passed when Chloe finally came out of her room and into the living room, wearing something completely different from what she had on before. A nice pink short-sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans. Beca smiled and hopped off the stool, meeting Chloe in the living room. "Ready to go?" Beca asked, receiving a nod from Chloe.

The two both headed out the door and called a taxi to pick them up and bring them to rehearsal. They had to wait ten minutes for the taxi to get to the apartment. Once they got in the taxi and started on they're way to rehearsal, Chloe was contemplating whether they'll be late or not. What Beca heard, Aubrey was always strict about lateness to rehearsals and performances. Chloe telling her that she had never been late to a rehearsal only made matters worse for the two. But after sitting in a taxi for another ten minutes, they finally got to the dance studio where rehearsal was being held.

Chloe and Beca got out of the taxi and rushed into the building, hoping that they hadn't arrived too late. When they walked into the room, the new Bellas were already in their chairs. Sopranos in the front, Altos in the back. To Chloe's surprise, two chairs were missing. Aubrey must have already kicked out two Bellas that had done something wrong, either last night or at the beginning of rehearsal.

Hearing Beca and Chloe walk in, Aubrey glanced over at them and shook her head. "Chloe. Beca. You're late," she told them, the other Bellas looking towards them as Chloe went to stand next to Aubrey and Beca went the only chair left in the back row. For a second, Beca met Chloe's eyes, then looked down. Chloe, who still had her eyes on Beca, shook her head and focused back on Aubrey as she spoke. "Anyways, we will practice every day for at least two hours, six days a week," she continued after being interrupted by Beca and Chloe's late arrival to rehearsal. Chloe had turned her back for a second to get the set packets which has all the songs that they'll be using in performances. "And I trust you'll add you're own cardio."

Beca's smile turned to a frown after hearing the word 'cardio'. "Why cardio?" she asked.

"Yeah, don't put me down for cardio," Fat Amy added.

Aubrey sighed. "Okay, moving on." She gestured towards the packets that Chloe was holding. "This is the list of all the songs that we have ever performed," she told the new Bellas as she watched Chloe go around and hand out the packets.

Chloe handed one to Beca first and smiled. The brunette looked down at the packet, then meeting eyes with Chloe. "Thanks." The redhead nodded and continued passing them out.

Beca's eyes scanned the packet. "And you will notice that we only do songs made famous by women," Aubrey continued.

"There's nothing from this century on here," Beca stated, lifting her eyes from the packet.

"Because we don't stray from tradition," Aubrey answered. Beca just rolled her eyes and flipped through a page of the packet. "Now," she started, walking over to the white board and flipping it around, showing some kind of chart, "this is how we will become champions."

* * *

The first part of rehearsal consisted of teaching each Bella beats and sounds they can sing in the background for performances. Aubrey taught each Bella a different sound. She started with the Sopranos and ended with the Altos, Beca being the last one to go.

Then all of the Bellas, including Aubrey and Chloe ran up and down stairs that were around chairs like the ones in an auditorium. By the time they were finished that, most of the Bellas were out of breath, except Fat Amy. Aubrey found her 'horizontal running' on the chairs in the center as the other girls ran.

After they were done that, Aubrey gave each Bella, including herself and Chloe a pair of heels. The group practiced walking in heels, the type of shoe they have to wear for performances along with their flight attendant looking outfits.

Both Aubrey and Chloe then showed the new Bellas the dance moves they had to know for performances. The Bellas had to learn the move and show them to Aubrey and Chloe one at a time.

As for Beca, she had to do the box move that Chloe performed for the group. She stood in front of the mirror, Chloe standing behind her, snapping her fingers to the beat of which the song goes. Beca moved her hands and arms to form the box, but stopped, forgetting the rest of the move. She looked over her shoulder at Chloe. "I don't understand how this works," she told her.

Chloe sighed and walked up to her. "Here. Let me show you." Beca nodded and waited for Chloe to show her the move again. Instead, Chloe moved so she stood directly behind her, her body close to touching her's. She took both of Beca's hands. Beca hesitated at first, but suddenly felt her hands hold Chloe's too. "Ready?" The redhead behind her asked. Beca nodded slightly. "It's like this…" As Chloe moved her hands along with Beca's, Beca could feel her face flush as well as heat. She briefly looked down at the blue jewel around her neck and noticed that a corner of it had turned red. Beca mentally shook her head and allowed Chloe's hands and arms to guide her through the box move, tilting her head to the side a bit. While doing the move with Beca, Chloe moved her head closer to Beca's.

At the end of the box move, Chloe's arms were completely around her and her head was right beside her's. Beca turned her head a bit to look at Chloe's content smile. "This isn't the part I had trouble with," she whispered. "I need help with the rest of the move."

Chloe met Beca's stormy blue eyes and smiled softly. "I know." Beca swore she felt her stomach flutter with butterflies when Chloe's eyes met her's. What she was feeling was different. She felt as if this feeling was completely new to her. That scared her.

"I… I just… um…" Beca stuttered, pulling her hands away from Chloe's. "Sorry." She turned around to face the redhead, who still had a smile on her face. "This is just really weird for me."

The redhead nodded understandingly and took a step back. "It's okay."

"We should probably… go meet up with the other Bellas." Beca glanced at the clock, Chloe following her gaze. At that, Chloe nodded and left Beca alone. Sighing, the brunette walked over to Aubrey to get the performance schedule, the other Bellas crowding around Aubrey and Chloe. They also received the performance schedule.

Once each Bella got a schedule, Aubrey announced that they had a gig next week. The information for that was on the sheet as well. As both Chloe and Aubrey explained to the group, Beca's eyes wandered the schedule and gig details. It read: Sigma Beta Theta's fall mixer, Regionals, Semi-finals, Finals. The sheet also mentioned the dates and meet up times before leaving for the performance. Hearing Aubrey's voice forced her to look up from the schedule.

"Okay. Hands in, Bellas," Aubrey told the group. Only Aubrey herself and Chloe put her hands in, the other Bellas thinking that Aubrey wasn't being serious about the demand. The blonde looked at each one of them. "I said, hands in, aca-bitches." All the Bellas put their hands in. "Sing ah on three." The Bellas counted to three as a group. As Aubrey and Chloe sang ah on three, the other Bellas were rather delayed. Aubrey sighed. "Okay. We'll work on that next time," she told the group as they left the room. Unlike the others, Beca had to stay, Aubrey wanting to talk with her. "You know you'll have to take those ear monstrosities out for the fall mixer."

Beca furrowed her eye brows. She figured that Aubrey would ask her that. She always had since the beginning. "You really don't like me do you?" she asked.

"I don't like your attitude," Aubrey hissed.

She rolled her eyes. "You don't know me." She took a step closer to her. "You'll never know me." Her eyes wandered over to Chloe, who was watching the whole very short conversation. "I have to go." With that, Beca took a couple steps back and turned her back to Aubrey, leaving the studio alone.


	7. Red

**A/N: I'm so sorry that this is such a late update. For the past three weeks, I had two full weeks of Band camp from 12 to 8 and then school started the next week. I've been writing most of this chapter during class and my free periods during the school day, but I still have to pay attention in those classes and do some of my home work during those free periods.**

 **Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Follow, favorite, review. :)**

 **~Neradia**

* * *

After leaving the first rehearsal of the year for the Bellas, Beca hurried back to her dorm as if she were late to get somewhere. She could feel the breeze run through her curls and slightly push her hair in her face. She would just tuck it behind her ear as she ran, not stopping.

She would try her hardest to avoid running into anyone. Any students, staff, professors. Beca was clumsy despite her badass (not really all that badass) personality. Bumping into someone while she was in a rush was inevitable. She wouldn't care at all if she happened to run into someone. She wouldn't care if running into that person wasted minutes of her time. She just wanted to get back to her dorm.

Beca should've waited and got a ride from Chloe or Aubrey. At least that's what she thought as she ran. She regretted not asking Chloe for a ride. At the time, it never really came to her. Her mind was clouded with what happened with her short conversation with Aubrey. She was scared that Chloe would say no. Or that she would get yelled at by Aubrey. She didn't know what Chloe would say when they would get into the taxi if she would say yes after what had happened at rehearsal.

Chloe right behind her.

Chloe's arms around her.

Their hands held in each other's.

Chloe's face so close to her's.

Beca shook her head. She told herself to stop mentally. She didn't know why she was thinking about that. It was just one time. It wasn't really anything anyways. Nothing happened. _Nothing happened_.

Approaching Baker Hall, Beca slowed down, wanting to catch her breath before she entered the building. She passed the same pin board. The same dorm rooms which neighbored her's. One second she thought she forgot her key at Chloe's. Another just hoped that she didn't. Then she hoped that Kimmy Jin was somewhere else at the moment. Her mind just fluttered with thoughts. It was all to hard to comprehend.

She walked straight passed her dorm room.

For a second, she had stop to take a double take, seeing the numbers on the dorms higher than her own. She immediately cursed under her breath and turned back around, just going a couple doors down to her dorm room. Getting to the right door, she stood in front of it for a couple seconds just to let herself think.

She worried that she wouldn't be alone, that Kimmy Jin or any of her friends would be there when she walked in. She worried that she would have to leave the room because Kimmy Jin and her friends are in there and don't want to be bothered. She thought of many possibilities that would just make things worse. But when she finally opened the surprisingly unlocked door, everything seemed to be fine.

Beca sighed of relief and walked in, closing the door behind her. The brunette looked around her. She was alone. None of Kimmy Jin's friends were here. It was just her. She could figure this out without any distractions or questions being asked. She felt safe. She felt okay for once. No one was on her case. No one was yelling at her for anything. She was okay.

Then walking over to her bed, she sat down and took off her shoes and socks, gently tossing them into the corner of her side of the room. Beca glanced down at the jewel that hung around her neck and unclipped it, taking it into her hands. Before examining the jewel, she forced her eyes to wander towards the door. At first, she swore she heard the door knob turn, but figured that it was all in her head.

It took minutes for her to peal her eyes away from the door. She told herself that she needed to see if the jewel was really turning red like she saw and felt during rehearsal. She needed to figure out what it means. And finally looking down at the jewel in her hand, she frowned.

It was really turning red. The corner of it had turned red. She wasn't imagining this. This was real.

* * *

"I have nodes."

When Chloe's day couldn't have gotten any worse. The day when she told the Bellas that she had nodes. She never thought she would ever get to telling them. She really just wanted to keep it to herself. She wanted no one to worry. She would go through regionals, semi-finals, and finals without any worry from the group. That's what she wanted since that morning.

 _Aubrey and Chloe were up early that morning. The quick rehearsal before the performance for the fall mixer was only hours away._

 _Both Bellas were nervous. Aubrey thought that the new Bellas weren't exactly ready. No matter how much rehearsal they put into that performance, she was still unsure how it was going to turn out._

 _Chloe on the other hand was excited to finally perform after what had happened last year. She wanted to redeem the Bellas' reputation. She wanted the Bellas to get back on their feet, and win the ICCAs. This mixer, it's a start._

 _An hour left until the before performance rehearsal, Aubrey decided to go do her hair quick, knowing that she wouldn't have time to do it during the rehearsal. At the same time, she needed some time to think._

 _She locked herself in the only bathroom that her and Chloe share._

 _Once Aubrey left, Chloe walked over to the couch and sat down, her cellphone in hand. She could feel her body start shaking, her hands beginning to sweat. She had never been more nervous in her life. Fearing at the possibility of having nodes made the nervousness for the up coming performance that day only worse._

 _Feeling her phone vibrate in her hand minutes later just happened to calm her down a bit. She sighed and answered her phone, nervously putting it up to her ear. Right then, she got the worst news she could possibly receive._

 _She tested positive for nodes._

 _Once she got off the phone with her doctor, she set her cell phone down beside her and put her head in her hands. "This can't be happening…" Chloe muttered to herself. "This can't be real."_

 _For minutes, she kept her head down, thinking what this could mean for future performances, what it could do to their scores for semi-finals and finals. She wanted to have a future in music. She wanted to be surrounded in music in some way when she graduates. And now that she has nodes, she didn't know how she could continue singing even though she loves it with a passion._

 _Hearing the bathroom door open, Chloe quickly picked her head up and looked over at Aubrey who had finished getting her hair done for the performance at the fall mixer. For a second, Aubrey had an expression of worry on her face. "Are you okay, Chloe?" Chloe shook her head, but Aubrey continued to go on. "Is this about why you left so early from aca-initiation? If something is going on that I don't know, I-"_

 _"No," Chloe had stopped her mid-sentence. "It's nothing. I was just waiting for you." She smiled slightly at her roommate. "Everything is fine."_

"What?" Aubrey gasped. "It can't be…" The two turned towards each other and held each others' hands reassuringly.

Beca had gasped a bit too. Now that she went through this a couple of times, she actually understood why nodes was serious and why it hurt Chloe so much. "I'm sorry," she told Chloe, "that really sucks."

Chloe gave Beca a confused look. She didn't think that Beca would know what nodes are. She remembered that Beca told her that she doesn't sing. Chloe wondered how she could possibly know about nodes. "What?" she asked. "Why are you apologizing?"

"Don't nodes effect your vocal chords and crush dreams or something? Something like that?" Beca asked hesitantly, looking at Chloe for clarification. Chloe only smiled at the brunette. "Right?"

* * *

When hearing that Chloe had nodes again (not like she didn't know it was going to happen), Beca offered to teach Chloe how to mix to get her mind off of her nodes. The night after the Riff-Off, which was a terrible loss to the Bellas because of unclear rules, Beca took Chloe to her dorm room.

The two decided to walk there after another day of rehearsal, Chloe wanted to watch the sun set slowly as they walked. Beca didn't really mind this, but was kind of curious why Chloe was suddenly into watching the sun set. On and off, she would think that it probably helped Chloe's mind stray from her hurting throat. Or watching the sun set was just a thing she did every now and then to clear her mind from anything really. Or just the beauty of sun sets. The bright colors in the sky that are usually not seen at a random time during the day or night. The clouds turning different colors corresponding to the sky.

It was unfortunate for her because the sun set was setting behind them as they walked. Not in front of them, not beside them, not behind them. Every now and then, Chloe would look behind them to watch the sun set, trying her best to not bump shoulders with anyone walking in the opposite direction. Yet, sometimes there were just quick glances. It was like the sun set had eyes too and Chloe would meet those eyes. Seeing those eyes would give her hope, hope that things will only get better from here.

With regionals coming up soon, all she needed was hope to get through one last rehearsal before it and then the regionals itself. She didn't want her nodes to stop the group from being successful in their performances.

The noise of the door screeching open brought her attention back to what was in front of her. She wanted to meet eyes with the sun set one last time, but she felt a hand grab her's and pull her inside the building.

Beca led her through the hall (Baker Hall), her eyes focused on what's in front of her. She didn't care to look at the pins and fliers on the walls. Chloe on the other hand had her eyes drifting from one wall to the next.

Upon finally reaching the dorm room after a long walk from the dance studio building across campus, Beca released Chloe's hand and took out her key to open her dorm room door. She allowed Chloe to walk in first then walking in herself, closing the door behind her.

As Chloe sat down on the bed on her friend's side of the room, Beca grabbed her lap top and head phones off her desk, setting it down on her bed.

They sat down next to each other, their backs against the wall, the lap top in front of them. Beca gave Chloe the head phones, then watched her slide them on to her head. She waited for some kind of nod from Chloe before opening the program. She also opened her song list. "You can choose two," Beca told her, "it doesn't matter which songs you choose."

Chloe's eyes wandered through the list of hundreds of songs. "How am I supposed to pick two songs from hundreds?"

"Just choose your favorites." Chloe sighed and chose two songs.

Titanium.

Bulletproof.

Beca thought that Chloe wanted to combine two songs from two mixes she already made in the past.

The two songs happened to just be Chloe's favorites.

Nodding, Beca added the two songs into the program on a new file. Chloe watched her as she prepared the new file and then looked down at the brunette's hands gliding along the mouse pad. She smiled. "How long does it take to set this up?" Chloe asked.

"Just a couple of minutes," she answered. Chloe nodded and continued to watch Beca set up the program. As she did, Chloe took one glance around the room. It wasn't too different from the other times she has been in here. It wasn't different at all. It was like nothing changed. Chloe hated that.

Hearing a high pitched sound come through the head phones, Chloe cringed and met Beca's eyes. "I'm guessing you're finished setting it up?" Beca had only nodded. "You could have just told me that you were done instead of sending noises through the head phones and into my very sensitive ears."

Beca laughed a little and shrugged. "Anyways, now I can teach you how this works," she told the red head who seemed very excited. "Drag Titanium on the left side of the screen and Bulletproof on the right." Chloe's eyes left Beca's to look at the bright screen in front of them and set her finger tips on the mouse pad, dragging the two songs into their correct spots. Beca nodded, glad that Chloe was understanding what she was telling her to do. "Now you can add different sounds, make one song louder than the other…" Trailing off, Beca took control of the mouse pad, showing Chloe how to do certain things with the two songs she picked, but her eyes left the screen, staring directly at Beca and smiling slightly. "…and you can make the beats go higher or lower depending on the music and-" Beca stopped and looked at Chloe, meeting her eyes. "You should really be paying attention, you know?" she said in a soft tone.

Chloe shook her head and looked back at the screen. "Sorry, I…" Her eyes again left the screen and met Beca's. "I was just spacing out… and…" she stopped, just staring into Beca's stormy eyes. The two kept their eye contact as they leaned closer to each other. Beca could feel her heart fluttering at the closeness between them, which was soon interrupted.

The door opened, causing the two to quickly move away from each other. Seeing Kimmy Jin enter the room, Beca sighed and closed her lap top. Chloe looked down at her hands. "You can go if you want," the brunette told her. "There's nothing holding you back."

Chloe nodded and stood up from the bed. She walked to the door, but before opening it, she looked back at Beca. "I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked, receiving a quick nod from Beca. "Goodbye, Beca."

Watching Chloe leave the room, Beca's small smile turned to a frown. She pushed her lap top away from her and listened to the sound of the door opening again. Kimmy Jin had left, leaving Beca alone in her dorm room.

As the night when on, her head kept asking her what she had done. Why did she do that. Her thoughts ran into her mind faster than one of those really fast trains they have in Japan. Her head pounded. Out of anger and frustration, she pulled the necklace with the jewel off her neck. She took a quick glance at the jewel that was similar to Chloe's and sadly admiring as it dimly glowed. Her hand forming into a fist at the thought of Chloe, she forcefully threw it at the wall in front of her, the necklace landing on her desk. She pulled her legs to her chest and put her head down, allowing the tears she has been holding back all those "years" run free.

Right then, all she could think about was losing Chloe again.


	8. I Have a Feeling We've Met Before

**A/N: Hello!**

 **Sorry that I haven't been able to update as much. Again with school and everything, I haven't had any time to update. But, I found an opportunity to update it so, here it is!**

 **Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Sorry that it's so short. But, please review, favorite, and follow. I really appreciate it!**

 **-Neradia**

* * *

Beca leaned her head against the bus window. Her hair was pulled back in a nice bun for the Bellas regional performance. She wore the outfit she was forced to wear; she hated it, the jewel necklace (the chain now fixed) was laying gently on her chest. Her eyes were out the window, gazing at the road side and other passing cars.

She thought about the lack of days that were left. She asked herself if Chloe's half was changing too. She wondered if Chloe was even wearing her half. After what had happened days ago, she figured that Chloe threw her jewel away. _But Chloe promised..._

The bus bounced a little, causing Beca's head to lightly bang against the glass window. It didn't hurt her, just surprised her. She only sighed and continued to stare out the window.

Although for a second, she glanced over at Chloe on the other side of the bus and frowned. She wasn't sure if Chloe was okay after she had almost kissed her a couple days ago. She didn't seem as chipper and bubbly like she usually is. It hurt her heart seeing Chloe in this state. She wouldn't be able to stand the rest of her time left with Chloe feeling not like herself. Beca wanted to spend as much time with Chloe as she can until she figures out how to save her.

Before Beca could look back out the window, she watched Chloe carefully move to the other side of the bus and sit down next to her. Chloe met her eyes and smiled. Beca smiled back. "What's up, Red? Anything new?" she asked, her voice calm, trying to start a conversation with her. her voice instantly soothed Chloe. But with no answer, she continued. "I'm sorry about what happened a couple days ago. I didn't mean to-"

A head colliding with her shoulder stopped her mid-sentence. Beca's eyes wandered to see that Chloe had rested her head on her shoulder. "You didn't hurt me." Hearing this made Beca smile slightly. She was glad to hear that the almost kiss some time ago didn't effect Chloe in anyway, besides her heart.

The jewel around both of their necks grew more red, the red seeping over the light blue.

* * *

The performance was a success.

They had gotten in second place which had surprised Aubrey just a bit. Her hard work had payed off. The countless hours of practice and rehearsal. The time the Bellas had worked hard to get back on track from where they left off. It all led to their second place win.

After the performance, the group went to the front lobby, Aubrey and Chloe leading them there. They stopped at a small stair case in the lobby, the Treble Makers in an argument with another a cappella group called the Tone Hangers. In seconds, the argument became a physical fight.

The Bellas, besides Fat Amy stayed up on the stair case. Beca had learned the hard way that getting into that fight only got her arrested, even though she really didn't do anything besides hit one of the Tone Hangers in the face. She also broke the Treble's trophy that they won and broke a window. She told herself that that didn't really count.

Beca didn't break the window this time. She had stayed next to Chloe, watching Fat AMy break the window instead as well as get arrested. She never vertically ran down the hall way. Bumper, the leader of the Trebles, bailed her out.

Once the fight had died down, the rest of the Bellas left to drive back to Barden, including Beca. She sat down in the same seat by the front of the bus. Now that Fat Amy had left, Cynthia Rose offered to drive the bus back to Barden.

Beca again had stared out the window most of the drive back to Barden. Chloe actually stayed in her seat, listening to music. Ten minutes or so into the drive, she had fallen asleep as well as half of the other Bellas. It was quiet, too quiet for Beca.

* * *

Each Bella got off the bus, carrying their garment bags and other necessities with them. They stood in the parking lot, waiting for Aubrey or Chloe to announce something important about semi-finals. To their surprise the two dismissed the group, having not one thing to say at all. Beca thought that maybe Aubrey and Chloe had bad feedback on their performance that night. She also thought that maybe it was too late at night to be talking about their performance when really everyone, including herself, just wanted to go back to their dorms and sleep the night away.

As Beca was about to leave along with the rest of the group, Chloe stopped her. She turned to face her, her eyes glancing from the jewel around her neck to jer eyes that faintly match the faded blue color of the jewel. There was a weird second of dead air between them before Chloe finally spoke up.

"I hope I'm not wasting your time. I know that it's late and that you probably have to be up early tomorrow or something..."

Beca shook her head, prompting her to continue. "No, you're fine. What's up?"

"About what happened that day-"

Beca quickly interrupted her. "Chloe, it's okay. Whatever happened, it happened." She shrugged. "I know I was stupid to do that to you but-"

Chloe grabbed Beca's wrist to stop her from talking. "It's not about that. Yeah, we almost... um..." she stopped and looked down.

"Kissed?" Beca finished.

She nodded. "Yeah that. But what I have to say has to do with it, but not entirely. Understand?"

Beca gave her a weird look because of the way she worded everything, but nodded anyways. "Of course I understand. What do you want to tell me?"

Once Chloe's eyes met Beca's blue orbs, the words on the tip of her tongue vanished. She became nervous. It was like she what she wanted to say somehow became harder to say. She knew it involved the kiss. Beca knew it involved the kiss. Well, the kiss that almost happened.

The silence between them came back, Chloe not being able to get her reply out right away. Beca lifted her eye brows and softened her expression. "Are you okay?" she asked, just wanting to make sure she wasn't making her uncomfortable.

Chloe shook her head. "Can we talk about this," she looked over her shoulder before finishing, "somewhere else? This doesn't feel right."

"How about my dorm?" Beca suggested. "Is that okay with you?"

"Y-yeah. That's fine." Chloe suddenly felt Beca's hand slide into her's and looked down at their hands, blushing madly. "Let's go to your dorm then."

* * *

Beca had closed the door behind her, immediately taking in that Kimmy Jin wasn't in the room. She sighed of relief. She wanted to have a private conversation with Chloe. Kimmy Jin would have overheard anything that they were talking about, even the most personal things. It would make her uncomfortable as well as Chloe. There was definitely a reason why Chloe couldn't have told her in the parking lot. Although it was empty, people could park there any time and overhear something they weren't supposed to. It would make the situation much worse than it was before they would have started the conversation.

She watched Chloe sit down on her bed and went to sit down next to her. Chloe looked at her for a second, then back down at her hands which lay nicely on her lap. Beca could tell that she was nervous. Her hands were sweating, her eyes never met Beca's once, she never said one word while they walked to her dorm. She was curious what Chloe had to tell her. Being left in the silence for seconds made her nervous as well. It could be something about how she felt. What she felt. If she felt anything. She hoped it had nothing to do with the jewel. Their jewel. The jewel that connects them together.

Taking a deep breath, Chloe found her confidence to tell Beca what she had wanted to tell her since the almost kiss. Her eyes left her hands on her lap and met Beca's. "When we leaned in to... um..."

"Kiss?" Beca asked.

"Yeah, that." Chloe looked back down at her hands, feeling less confident in what she had to say than when she started telling her. "I felt something, Beca. Sort of like butterflies except it wasn't butterflies. I had this feeling l-like we've met before."

Beca widened her eyes. "Wh-what?"

"I feel like we've met before."


	9. The Truth Told and Heard

Beca was shocked at what Chloe had told her. She didn't expect Chloe to know already before she actually told her that she wasn't from this time. She didn't think the almost kiss would trigger something like that. Memories of times together that didn't happen at least not in this time. It confused her. She thought that maybe the jewel turning red could have had something to do with it. But it also scared her too. She wasn't sure what it meant, that Chloe's memories came back to her all of a sudden. It made no sense. Nothing like this had never happened before.

Chloe still had her eyes down, looking at her hands on her lap, afraid of how Beca would answer and react. As of right now, she seemed shocked. More shocked than Chloe thought. "Are you okay?" she asked softly.

Sighing, Beca gently placed her fingers under Chloe's chin and lifted her head up, forcing her to make eye contact. "Yes. I'm okay," she replied, smiling slightly. "I just haven't been completely honest to you when I should have. I lied to you so many times and I completely regret it, but I..." She paused. "I had to lie to you to protect you." Chloe's face flushed, causing Beca to smile a little. "And since you already sort of know what I was lying about, I guess I could tell you what the jewels actually mean. I mean if you want to know." Chloe opened her mouth to say something, but Beca quickly interrupted her. "Also, I can't tell you everything." Beca released her finger tips from Chloe's chin, allowing her to reply.

The redhead nodded, completely understanding that she had a question limit. Despite the question limit, she had to know what the jewels really mean? What the purpose of it is. Carefully, Chloe unclipped the chain of the jewel around her neck, caressing it in her palms. Beca watched Chloe's actions curiously, when she noticed that she was right all along. That Chloe's half of the jewel was slowly turning red too.

 _What does that-_

Beca's thoughts were cut off, hearing Chloe's voice run through her ears. "The jewels. What do they mean? What do they do?"

The brunette grabbed the necklace from Chloe's hands and set it down beside her, then taking her own necklace off. She picked up Chloe's half and moved it close to her half, immediately connecting as one in an odd shape. Chloe's eyes widened at the two connected jewels. Beca nodded and quickly pulled the two jewels apart before they could turn back time again. "When I was thirteen, I got these jewels from my mom for my birthday. She told me that she was a Jem Holder, usually a woman who is assigned to save someone from their..." Beca paused, "...death, and that I was destined to be one too. I had a person to save."

"Me?" Chloe asked quietly.

Beca nodded. "Anyways, once I gave you the jewel, it meant that I was able to set back time after the thing that causes your death happens. If I connect the two jewels, it'll set back time within a minute, maybe two. The memories of all that happen to you are erased, that's the cost, but I am able to keep mine. It hurts a lot that I remember you, but you don't remember me."

Chloe frowned. "I'm sorry."

Beca shook her head. "It's not your fault. I decided to save you. I couldn't lose my best friend."

The two wrapped their arms around each other. Chloe was happy that she finally knew the truth about her friend, although scared of how and when she was going to die. How she was going to die and if Beca would be able to save her this time.

* * *

Beca stood at the front door at her dad's house, hesitating to knock. She had to figure out why her and Chloe's jewels we're turning red, what it meant. If it meant anything. Asking her dad for answers (being once married to a Jem Holder) was the best solution to her thousands of problems she's had over the last three 'years'. The questions such as how she could save Chloe. What she has to do to save her. If she has to give up her own life to save Chloe. If Beca had to give up her own life for Chloe, she would doing in a blink.

Taking a step forward, Beca finally found the courage to knock on the door, then taking a step back away from the door. Within a minute, her dad answered the door. He gave her a confused look, not expected his daughter to show up at his door after the argument they had back at Barden. He thought that the reason she came to his house must have been important. Sighing, he let Beca into the house, closing the door and following not far behind into the kitchen. They both sat down on the stools at the island of the kitchen, facing each other.

"My jewel is turning red. So is Chloe's," Beca said suddenly, taking her half of the necklace out of her pants pocket and showing it to her dad. "This has never happened before during the three times I went back. I don't understand what this means. Does it mean that I actually have a chance of saving her? Does it mean that I've failed? Did I do something wrong?" She kept asking herself several questions as if Dr. Mitchell wasn't there.

After minutes of hearing his daughter rant to herself, he finally stopped her. "Beca," he started, interrupting the girl in front of him.

Beca shook her head, moving her eyes away from the jewel in her hands, then meeting her dad's eyes. "What?" she asked curiously. "Why did you stop me? I'm trying to explain to you, I-"

"You're falling in love," Dr. Mitchell told Beca, stopping her from rambling more.

The girl widened her eyes at what her dad told her. She was falling in love with Chloe? Chloe? That's why both of their jewels were turning red? It made no sense, at least not to her. "What?"

"You're falling in love," he repeated.

* * *

 **A/N: I'm so sorry for the delay. There was school and then mid-terms. I couldn't find the time to update it. But, here it is! I hope you guys enjoyed it. I was planning on making it longer, but I thought that this was the best place to stop. So thanks for waiting! I really appreciate it!**

 **\- Neradia**


	10. Countdown

"I'm falling in love with Chloe," Beca stated before she let out a laugh. "No way." Dr. Mitchell watched as she continued to laugh, waiting for her to calm down. He figured she was laughing in disbelief. He also figured that she would react this way. It was normal for Jem Holders to react like that. It was in her blood to react like that. She had no control of it. Although after a few minutes, Dr. Mitchell had enough, slamming his fist on the counter to get Beca's attention back. At the sound, Beca immediately stopped laughing. "What?"

Dr. Mitchell cleared his throat before speaking. "Loving Chloe isn't a bad thing, Beca. You're actually on the right track."

Hearing this caused the brunette to tilt her head to the side. "I'm sorry? Did I hear that wrong or something?" Beca asked, obvious confusion in her voice.

"You're on the right track," he repeated.

Beca bit her lip. "What do you mean I'm on the right track? I've been trying to get on that damn track for what? Three tries now? Four?" She sighed. "I don't understand what you're trying to tell me and I don't think I'll end up making it right in the end anyways. In fact, I don't mind being on a loop for the rest of my life. I'd rather that than lose…" She paused and thought for a second. "Is this… is this what's supposed to happen? I'm… I-"

He nodded and frowned slightly, contemplating whether he should tell her the truth her not. He had hoped that she would have figured it out herself, but that never happened. It might never happen. Sighing, Dr. Mitchell took ahold of the jewel in his hands, looking at it briefly, then setting it back on the island counter. "It's perfectly okay to be confused, Bec. You're supposed to have feelings for Chloe. It's what Jem Holders are meant to do." Beca glanced down and fiddled with her finger tips, nervous about what else her dad was going to say. "Did you think that the person you save is chosen randomly, Beca?"

At this, the DJ's eyes left her hands on her lap to meet Dr. Mitchell's eyes. "What?" She shook her head. "I don't understand."

"You don't have to understand. Just make the right decisions, especially around Chloe. Keep her close too," he answered.

With that, Beca nodded and grabbed her half of the jewel off of the counter top before hopping off the stool she was sitting on. "Thanks," she said, smiling slightly and leaving her dad's house, then calling a taxi to drive her back to the Barden campus.

* * *

It was only hours until Semi-Finals of the ICCAs. Only hours until Beca screwed up the Bellas' set list. Only hours until she makes another wrong mistake that leads Chloe into getting in car crash again, always like the ones before. No matter how hard she tried to change Chloe's mind, she dies anyways in the end. After setting back time again, Beca had to wait hours upon hours to meet her again and fix what she had done wrong, or what she thought she'd done wrong. Everything she tries to fix leaves Chloe back in her arms on the road. Maybe she wasn't supposed to fix anything. Maybe she should just leave everything be, but that's what caused the accident in the first place. Her feelings for her could change that, change fate. Whatever that is.

Before she could leave to the bus, Beca had to check in with Luke at the radio station. Despite it being the weekend, she still had to work day shifts at her internship. The brunette was confused to why she had to work on the weekend, especially this weekend. No, the day of Semi-Finals.

Not exactly in the mood to deal with Luke, she walked into the radio station with a sigh. Although, the music that ran through the radio station made her eyes widen. It was one of her mixes, one of the many mixes Beca had gave to Luke. She was surprised he actually played one of her mixes, the mix that suddenly reminded her of Chloe, which didn't really help make her feel any better.

Beca adjusted her shoulder strap bag as she walked deeper into the radio station, her eyes fixed on the booth. She tilted her head to the side, not seeing Luke or Jesse anywhere. He was probably on the road with the rest of the Trebles, heading to Semi-Finals. Luke on the other hand, she had no idea where he would be at the moment.

As she walked towards the numerous shelves of music record, she heard foot steps behind her, frowning slightly before glancing over her shoulder. Chloe. Chloe? Beca turned around, chuckling a little at the red head. She was confused as to why Chloe would be at the radio station and how she was able to get in. Beca figured she was her the whole time, which would explain why she wasn't in her Barden Bellas' uniform.

"Hey, Beca," Chloe started, giving the brunette a small smile. "Ready for Semi-Finals?"

Beca shook her head and sighed. "How did you get in here? Luke-"

"He's not here. Well, he was, but I told him that you weren't going to be able to make it due to Semi-Finals."

The DJ looked at her in disbelief. "So he left?" Chloe nodded. "And you decided to play one of my mixes on the radio?" She nodded again. "But how-"

"Can't you just enjoy the moment? Be happy that I put your mix on the radio?" the red head interrupted, taking one of Beca's hands. Beca's face flushed at the contact, causing her to look down. "Now, lets go to the bus before it leaves without us, hmm?"

Beca nodded quickly and allowed Chloe to lead her out of the radio station, their two hands still intertwined with each other.

* * *

The Bellas had went on to the bus once Beca and Chloe had arrived back from the radio station. Luckily, there were two open seats that were next to each other, giving Beca the opportunity to direct her best friend to those two seats. Both girls sat down, their hands still intertwined. Noticing that, Beca pulled her hand away and set her hands on her lap, fiddling with her finger tips. Even before the bus had started up, she was thinking about what was mandatory to change this time, what she had to do to save Chloe. What she was going to do to save Chloe. For sure, she didn't want to fail this time. This time, she wanted Chloe to live. Beca knew that this time, saving the bubbly red head was going to be a little easier because of what her dad told her a few days ago. She thought about that, about what he told her. That she had to keep Chloe close to her, to never leave her side.

After a few minutes, the bus finally began to move and worry built up inside Beca. There was the ride, the performance, then… This moment was the last that she will see Chloe and hear her voice before her death was meant to happen. If she doesn't succeed again, everything will simply start over. Time will start over.

Shaking off the thoughts, she wrapped one arm around Chloe's shoulders and pulled her close as the taller Bella listened to her music and hummed along to it. Beca found Chloe's humming soothing, dragging her thoughts away from what might happen in the future after the performance, after they basically losing the Semi-Finals. Beca screwing up the set. Beca leaving all the other Bellas behind. She left them behind, even Chloe. She left Chloe behind and didn't look back, never looked back.

Her eyes left her hands and moved to the window, looking out through it. She hoped that it would distract her, Chloe's humming obviously failing to do so. Her humming only brought more thoughts. Now she wasn't focused on Chloe, she was focused on the now. Having her arm around her, holding her close, Chloe's head slowly moving to rest on Beca's shoulder. With that, she closed her eyes and breathed in Chloe's sweet scent.

Chloe looked up at her and frowned. "You okay Becs?"

She nodded and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just have a lot of things on my mind right now." Chloe smiled at Beca and relaxed in her arms.

 _Keep her close…_

* * *

 **Hi! Sorry that I haven't updated in a few months. Being a Junior in high school, I had to deal with the whole college thing, so I never really got the time to update. Homework and exams got in the way as well. Now that it's summer, I might update more, depends on if I'm busy or not. My parents tell me everything last minute if we have plans of not. Hopefully, I can get a few more updates in before summer comes to an end.**

 **Also, I'm not sure how many more chapters I'm going to write. I maybe write three to five more chapters. I didn't really plan on this fanfic being like forty plus chapters since it goes along with the movie. I already know what I'm going to do with this story, I just have to get there.**

 **Thank you for waiting this long and reading it, despite the wait. I really appreciate it.**

 **-Neradia**


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